


Death follows

by Ironblue



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: BAMF Daisy, BAMF Oliver, F/M, Hacker Skye | Daisy Johnson, Hurt/Comfort, Inhuman Daisy, Mayor Oliver Queen, Not for Felicity fans, Secret Identity, Sorry I don't like her, Universe Crossing, Why Did I Write This?, also probably whump in later chapters, unusual pairing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2018-11-21 23:08:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 43,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11367543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ironblue/pseuds/Ironblue
Summary: When a group hellbent on getting rid of Daisy sends an inhuman after her, she is forced to flee. But where can she go, if the inhuman can find her anywhere in this world?That is how Daisy Johnson ends up in Star city, where everything seems the same and yet, everything is so much different. She has to create herself a new life in a world without SHIELD, but it's okay, it's not the first time she has done this. She will be fine. But can the same be said about Star city?





	1. And welcome

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea why, but I just needed to see Oliver and Daisy in the same universe. Enjoy.

"You have to go now, we will come back for you when it’s safe.”

“Coulson, Coulson! WAIT! DON’T DO THIS!”

“Daisy, if we don’t they will kill you, they will come for you and kill you. It’s over now. We WILL come back for you, I promise. Wait for us.”

“COULSON!”

“Goodbye Daisy.”

 

Daisy woke up with a special kind of hangover, which was surprising, considering she was pretty sure she didn’t drink. She groaned and sat up, her ears were ringing and she felt dizzy in the head. Everything was fuzzy and dark, shapes blending into each other like a Van Gogh painting, and there was that one shining light that felt like it would burn her eyes out. She could kind of recognize the moon in it, but it was more of a swimming unrecognizable shape of light rather than, well, a moon.

She took a big breath and tried to calm down, waiting for her vision to settle. It took some time, but soon enough she was able to make out her surroundings.

She was sitting on the pavement, and that at least explained why it was so damn uncomfortable. Pavements aren’t comfortable in any universe. The surrounding buildings looked like they could fall to pieces any minute, so she guessed she was at an abandoned part of a town. Or maybe the whole town was abandoned. At least that also meant that nobody was around, thank god, so that was a plus. Or maybe they just ran away when they saw her fall through a freaking portal.

Speaking of portals, where was she?

Her memory was all jumbled up. She remembered Coulson pushing her through a gateway of some sort, a portal between the universes or something like that. She remembered him telling her that this is the only way. They had an inhuman that could find her wherever she was.

But sending her to another earth? Seriously?

It is true that she was wanted by the whole government. By all governments actually. There was an attack on the UN and they thought it was her. She was even wanted by the Avengers.

She didn’t know what she did to be hated so much, all she knew was that they wanted to find her, they wanted to kill her. Not the Avengers, there was another group. Another group with an inhuman. And until her enemies were defeated, until her name was cleared, she had to leave. Leave not just her friends and family, the only family she had ever known, but her whole universe, just to end up… well, here. Wherever here was.

She let her head fall back on the pavement. Jumping between universes were not fun. All her bones ached, and the world would not stop spinning, and oh my god, would someone please stop that goddamn ringing in her head.

Suddenly, just to spite her, a portal opened above her, but before she could start hoping, two bags fell through, an envelope, and then it closed again.

The bags, of course, landed right on her stomach.

Daisy groaned and pushed the bags off her, grabbing the envelope and opening it with shaky hands. She recognized Coulson’s handwriting.

 

Dear Daisy

I am sorry we had to send you away like this, alone, but we will come back for you. I promise. Until then, try to remember who you are. An agent of SHIELD. An inhuman. A hacker. You don’t need us, and you certainly don’t need anyone or anything else to be the kickass woman you are.

But still, we sent you some things to help you get by. When we next open this portal, we will be here to get you home.

With love, Coulson and the team.

 

She felt tears falling from her eyes. So this was it for now? They sent her some stuff and a letter and left her here, all alone?

She could have fought. She could have stood up to them. She could have… She would have rather fought and died than… than to be abandoned, without family, all alone once again.

For one moment, Daisy felt utterly, and completely lost. Alone.

She looked at the letter again, crumpling it in her hands with anger. They abandoned her. They left her. They knew that she had been abandoned many times before, and yet, they did it too. They left her alone. Why? Why did they do that to her? How could they?

And then, only then, she realized it. Coulson is right. She is an agent of SHIELD. She is an inhuman. She is a hacker. They didn’t abandon her, they trusted her that she could do this. That she could survive this.

She fought back the tears, took a big breath, and stoop up. She has stared into the eyes of death many times, and yet, she was still breathing. This will not break her. She was stronger than this, and she knew that. Instead of suffering like a little girl, she should start doing something. Anything. Like they trusted she would.

She opened the bags. The first bag contained money, in cash. Nothing else, just a bag full of money. That could be useful if they used the same currency here. This much could buy her a home and help her pay for everything for years to come, or even more.

The other bag had her stuff in it. She didn’t have much, since she was used to living on the road, but what she had was here, in the bag. Plus her uniform and… OH MY GOD IS THAT A NEW LAPTOP? She honest to god chuckled as she took out the laptop. It was Fitz’ handiwork, no doubt. IT took all her willpower not to open it up right away, to put it right back into the bag.

There was also a phone, Fitz again, and… a ball? She took it into her hands, looked at it, shook it a few times, but no matter how she looked at it, it was just a ball made of metal.

“Well, okay then.” She said, frowning and putting the ball back too, zipping the bag back up. She had time to figure it out later. First things first, she had to find somewhere to sleep, and tomorrow, she could take care of everything else.

She seemed to be at the outskirts of a city, but she was between buildings, not even seeing the lights, so she had no idea which way to start walking.

She put the bags behind a dumpster, just in case, and crouched down.

Her powers propelled her into the air, and she landed gracefully on the top of the building, like she had done a hundred times while she was going rogue.

In the distance, she saw skyscrapers lit up like Christmas trees, a sight that reminded her of the big cities in her own world. Well at least this world seemed similar to hers, there weren’t any flying cars and stuff, which would have been really cool, but her hacker abilities relied on her knowing systems, and she wasn’t eager to learn everything again.

She returned to her bags, and headed straight towards the city.

 

Oliver was not having a good day. He was trying to make a funding for the army veterans in the city happen, but the city council was fighting him at every step.

He was actually relieved when he could finally walk into the foundry. He flopped down into a chair with a groan, putting his head into his hands. It didn’t help that he hasn’t really slept for days because there was a new drug dealer in town, trying to sell some new version of vertigo, but they always seemed to be a step too late, couldn’t bust the drug deals.

“For what it’s worth Oliver, I really appreciate what you are doing.” Diggle said, putting his hand on Oliver’s shoulder. “I know firsthand what war can do to people.”

“I know that, that’s why I’m doing it.” Oliver answered with a faint smile.

“Maybe you should rest today. We can take care of the city for one night.” Diggle assured him.

“Damn right we can.” Rene shouted from the other side of the room. “Ain’t that why you’ve been training us boss? Even if Curtis went on that vacation, there are still like, four of us.”

Oliver looked up, and shook his head. “Not tonight. We are really close to the identity of the new Count. I want to be here if or when he shows.”

“Uhm guys” Felicity whirled around in her chair “sorry to interrupt but we have a problem. Like a big problem. A universe big problem. Actually, multiple universes problem…”

“Felicity” Oliver looked at the blonde hacker with a serious face. “From the beginning.”

“Yeah right, sorry.” She whirled back towards her computer, the team coming to stand behind her, looking at the screens. “So you know Cisco gave us specs so we can monitor universe crossings in Star city.”

“No.”

“Ain’t never heard of that.”

“Not really.”

“Universe crossings?”

“Later Dinah.” Oliver said, and turned back towards Felicity. “What happened? Did someone cross over?”

“It sure seems like it.” Felicity pressed enter, and a red dot appeared on the screen that was showing the map of one of the abandoned parts of the Glades. “Should we call team Flash or…”

“Let’s see what we are dealing with first” Oliver said, and picked up his bow. “Dinah, you come with me for backup, the others stay here and wait for the count to show its face.”

 

Oliver parked his bike with a turn, Dinah doing the same next to him. He hopped off, looking around.

“You sure this is the place Felicity?”

“Hundred percent. More than hundred actually. Wait is that even possible?”

“Well, whoever crossed over here is long gone.” Dinah said, looking around. “Or maybe they are invisible.”

Oliver lifted his finger up, demanding silence. For a moment neither of them said anything. Then Oliver pointed at the ground. There were cracks in two concentrated places. A few meters to the left the same thing, same size, same width between the cracks.

“What did you find?” Felicity asked anxiously.

“Cracks in the ground.” Dinah answered.

“Wait here.” Oliver ordered, and shot an arrow towards the top of the closest building, swinging up.

“Did you find anything?” Dinah asked in the comms once he made it up.

“The same cracks up here, but only one pair,” Oliver answered. “I think we are dealing with a metahuman. They jumped up here because they didn’t know where they were. It’s safe to assume they are heading for the city.”

“Did you figure that out from a few cracks in the ground?” Rene asked, unbelieving.

“I figured that out because that’s exactly what I would do if I jumped to another universe,” Oliver explained, “we are going to try to figure out which way they went, going by the fastest ways towards the city from this point.”

He descended from the building and hopped on his bike, starting the engines. “Let’s find ourselves a meta.”

 

Daisy heard the engines just in time to be able to hide behind a pillar, just before two bikes turned the corner and appeared in the street, racing past her. She didn’t dare move before they disappeared again. Something in her gut told her she didn’t want to get caught. And because of her instincts being pretty solid, she decided to take a slower route to town, just to be safe.

 

Finding a hotel room wasn’t hard, even though it was the middle of the night. Daisy searched for one that looked comfortable but wasn’t very flashy, but still safe enough. She rented a corner room with a balcony that provided great chance for escaping, should it come to that.

First, she needed to get some sleep, to calm down and wrap her head around… well, everything. Tomorrow, she could start planning. She needed to find out as much as she could about this world, and about the city she was in. She didn’t want nor need any unexpected surprises.

But for now, she needed to sleep.

However, it was surprisingly hard for her to fall asleep, even with how tired she felt. But lying in the bed, nothing felt right nor safe. It was as if her whole world was turning around her, and all she wanted was to curl up and hide, to forget.

She felt so alone, more abandoned than she ever felt before. She wasn’t sure why. She was used to the feeling of being abandoned, that feeling is what made her who she is today.

And yet, this time it was different. Maybe because now she had something to lose. And it hurt. It hurt so damn much. It kind of reminded her of the moment when she realized Ward was Hydra. When he betrayed her.

That night, when she finally fell asleep, her dreams were filled with terror.


	2. It's time to exist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, thank you for the kudos and comments, really. I'm hoping this new chapter doesn't diasppoint anyone, I find it really hard to balance team Arrow and get Daisy to figure this world out and still have some plot going on in the story.

So, they used the same currency here as in her universe. That’s a relief. Also, many things were the same. Technology was almost exactly the same, like the languages and the countries, although they had many cities that didn’t exist in her world. Like the city she was in, Star city, or Central city. They didn’t have Avengers, Inhumans, or even a Tony Stark as far as she was concerned, but they did have metahumans from some kind of explosion in Central city. Daisy made a mental note to stay away from there.

They also had heroes. There was this guy in Central, super fast, called Flash. He kind of reminded Daisy of Yoyo, making her smile a bit. But there was a vigilante in Star city too. He was called Green Arrow, (and that sounded ridiculous if you asked her) but still, this put her on edge. This guy, according to the information she had read, wasn’t someone that Daisy wanted to mess around with. Best to avoid, she decided. She wasn’t the girl in the van anymore who could afford to run after guys in hoods.

She closed the tab on the computer, taking a sip from her coffee. She was in a coffee shop for multiple reasons: First, she needed to find out as much as she could about the technology here before she could use Fitz’ computer. But, to her relief, it was exactly the same, so the laptop will work too, and probably won’t alert any higher ups. Also, she really needed a coffee, and researching stuff in coffee shops brought her back to her old self, to even before she had a laptop. It gave her a bit of comfort, like she could pretend she was still in the same universe, just hanging out in a café before hopping back into her van.

Daisy was so lost in her thoughts that when she turned around, she didn’t notice the guy a few steps behind her. She of course bumped into him, her coffee falling from her hand.

They reached for it at the same time, him catching it just a moment before she did, ending in an awkward handholding.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry.” Daisy said, jerking her hand back, forgetting it was her coffee that was in it. She wasn’t even sure why she apologized: was it because she walked right into him, or because she touched his hand. 

“Don’t worry about it.” The guy answered, handing her coffee back with a smile. “Nice reflexes you’ve got there.”

Daisy smiled back, taking the coffee with a grateful look. “Look who is talking.”

Looks like she didn’t just bump into a random guy, she bumped into a random and very handsome guy. He had short dark blonde hair, and kind blue eyes, that held more and more depth the more she looked into them. Not that she was looking into them for long.

“I’m Oliver Queen.” The man said after a moment of silence, holding his hand out.

Daisy shook it. “Daisy Johnson.”

She had to make sure that as soon as she was back in her apartment, she hacked herself an identity. She couldn’t introduce herself to strangers with a peaceful feeling while she didn’t exist. Too risky.

The guy smiled at her. “I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you a tourist?”

Daisy considered it. “Something like that.” She agreed with a shrug. She might as well be. “I’m here to stay actually. At least for a while.”

The guy looked at her searchingly, his blue eyes analyzing her. It made her feel uncomfortable, like she was being read.

“Well, I’ve got to get going. It was nice to meet you.” He said in the end.

Daisy smiled at him, hiding her discomfort. “You too.”

He gave her one last look before turning around and walking towards a table.

Daisy looked after him, and her eyes met another woman’s.  She was frowning at her, like she thought Daisy intentionally bumped into that guy, just so she could flirt with him.

Daisy however, just shrugged, deciding that she had no time for jealous girlfriends. She headed outside with her adventurer of a coffee in hand, without looking back.

 

Felicity watched Oliver as he sat down with the two coffees. “Who was that?” She asked in a conversational tone.

Oliver looked up at her, his eyes giving away something akin to surprise. “A tourist, kind of. She introduced herself as Daisy Johnson. Seemed nice enough to me.”

“Uhum.” Felicity nodded, looking at the girl as she left the café. “Something is off about her.”

“You haven’t even met her.” Oliver pointed out, looking at her suspiciously. Hell, he barely met her. Yet he noticed it too. Something was just… off. Also, she didn’t seem to recognize him. That never happened before. Not that it bothered him, it was nice to meet someone who didn’t go Oh my god you are Oliver Queen or Good day Mr. Mayor immediately.

“I haven’t, but I’ve met enough suspicious figures in my life to recognize one.” Felicity insisted. “And she looks very suspicious.”

“She looks pretty average to me.” Oliver answered, leaning back in his chair. Felicity didn’t say anything to that, but Oliver was somehow sure that as soon as she enters the foundry, she’s looking up one Daisy Johnson on the internet tonight.

 

Daisy marveled at the genius that was the laptop. Its existence was basically a cheat, and in her hands, it was way more than that. And it was time to put it to a good use.

Using the (surprisingly fast) internet of the hotel, she got to work as soon as she got back to her room.

First things first, she needed to exist. Giving yourself an identity is not an easy job: it’s lucky that this isn’t the first time she did it.

Secondly, she needed a backstory. A life. She found the easiest way to do that was to recreate her own: she had one already after all, and up until she was eighteen, it sufficed very well. She even found that her one of her orphanages existed in this world too: she could use that.

Third things third, she needed proof of life. Speeding tickets, parking tickets, bank account.

It took her from the early morning to up until sunset to complete, only stopping for ordering pizza (same as at home, it must be a miracle). But by the time the last sunlight disappeared from the horizon, she had a life. She existed. She had a backstory. Now she only had to go and make an identity card for herself, a passport, and she was done. Alright maybe a license too.

She took out the cellphone, opening it up. As far as she could tell from the internet and her brief visit at the coffee shop, people used the same kind of phones here as they did at home. Again, similarity. But she will still have to get a phone card for it.

Daisy laid back on the bed and dropped the phone next to her, closing her eyes. So far, everything went so smoothly. Next, she will have to get herself an apartment, something nice, since she had the money for it. Maybe one with a balcony and a sight of the city.

Suddenly, she remembered something. Sitting up, she grabbed the bag with her stuff in it, and got the metallic ball out.

“So, what are you supposed to be?” She asked, turning it around in her hand, shaking it. “I highly doubt they gave me a useless ball of metal just for the fun of it.” She rearranged herself so she was sitting cross legged, and starting poking at the ball. “Come on, tell me your secrets. Open Sesame.”

Nothing happened.

Daisy shook it again, agitated. “Oh come on. You have to be something.”

They could have at least sent a manual with it or something, because this way, this was just a ball that wasn’t even good for playing a ball game.

In the end, Daisy ended up throwing it back into the bag in agitation, deciding that one day, she will figure out what it is.

But today is not that day.

Instead, she focused on something equally important: it was time for her to look for an apartment, and also, a job.

 

Oliver was extra tired. Last night, they didn’t just fail to find any sign of the dimension crosser, but there weren’t any signs of the new Count either. The game of cat and mouse that man has been playing with them was getting on everyone’s nerves. It was time to end it once and for all.

As soon as he entered the foundry, he sensed something was off. Felicity was typing way too furiously on her computer. At least the others seemed unbothered by whatever it was; Diggle was training with Rene and Dinah on the mat.

“Is everything alright?” he asked, standing behind Felicity, looking at the screens.

“Yes. Actually no. Actually, yes, which is why no,” she rambled on.

Oliver shook his head. “Look, Felicity, I’m way too tired for this. Either tell me what’s going on, or…”

“It’s your friend from the morning.” Felicity pressed a button, and the face of Daisy Johnson popped up on the screen. “I looked into her because I had this weird feeling about her.”

“She’s not my…” Oliver sighed. “Never mind. What did you find?”

“Nothing. I looked into her background, and I found everything I needed to find, but only that. Like, it says she exists, the database of the orphanage says she exists and spent time there, but when I crossreferenced her face with basically any video footage ever on the internet, nothing. She just doesn’t exist in any videos online. Nor in any pictures for that matter.”

Oliver raised one of his eyebrows. “And?” he asked. “Maybe she simply doesn’t like cameras. Or she had her face changed. There are many options, Felicity, there is no need to jump to conclusion. I can’t believe I have to be the one to tell you this, and not the other way around.”

“There is something wrong with this girl, Oliver.” Felicity argued, her face completely serious.

“We saw her for about one minute Felicity. Why would you even…”

At that exact moment, the computer beeped, cutting Oliver’s sentence in half. He, sighed, and looked at the screens: a map of the Glades popped up on it. Felicity immediately turned her attention back to the screen, and pressed many buttons in a quick succession. “Guys, it seems like our bad guy is finally showing himself. The cameras picked up someone wearing his mask in the Glades.” She kept typing furiously, pulling up camera footages and the layout of a building while everyone gathered around her. “I’m not sure what’s happening here, but it doesn’t look like a normal drug deal.” She pointed at the book in the Count’s hand “I don’t think he’s selling drugs, unless…” Her eyes widened. “I think he may actually be selling the formula of Vertigo. He must have figured out we are onto him.” She shook her head.

“If that happens, who knows where it will end up.” Diggle noted, his eyebrows furrowing.

“As far as I can tell there are only two exits in this building.” Oliver pointed at the layout. “I can go in as a distraction, it will cause him to run like before. Rene you take one entrance, Dinah you take the other. Diggle you are the backup, you will move to position as soon as one of them tells you the Count is there. I’m counting on you to tranq him as soon as he plays the smoke bomb card.” Oliver picked up his bow, but turned back towards the IT girl. “And Felicity, we will talk about your… suspicions later.” Even if they are towards an unknown person and for absolutely no reason.

They moved according to the plan. The meeting happened in an old storehouse, Oliver figured it was because it was a neutral ground for both involved parties. Or maybe they just weren’t clever enough to meet in a place from where they could easily escape from.

The building was stocked with gunmen, but that was nothing Oliver couldn’t handle, hasn’t handled many times before.

He moved in the darkness, undetectable for almost anyone. His arrows were fast and effective, and his side of the building was clear before anyone even realized what was happening. The Count and the buyer were standing on the side, surrounded by three guards with guns in their hands.

Oliver slowly crept behind one of the crates that were lying all over the storehouse, and listened in to the conversation.

“We agreed on half a million. That was the deal.”

“The deal changed.”

“Then there is no deal. Half a million or no formula.”

“Is that so? I believe you reached out to me, and you sounded desperate to sell your little book. Afraid of the Arrow, I presume?” Oliver didn’t know this voice. Must be the buyer. He sounded delighted, mocking the Count.

“Not the Arrow. Something is here. Something dark.” The Count’s voice, on the other hand, sounded scared. “It’s… it doesn’t matter. We agreed on half a million! Where is the rest?”

Oliver decided that this was the moment to jump out from behind the crates, and shoot the three standing guards before they could do anything. He shot the lamps, then rolled behind a big metallic chest, using it as cover, only looking out to shoot the arriving guards. As suspected, the two parties immediately turned tail and ran. Oliver managed to shoot one of them in the leg, but the other one, the Count, managed to escape. It wasn’t the first time that happened, so Oliver knew that his team could handle it. His tricks won’t work on them anymore, the Count was as good as caught, finally.

He shot the gun out of the buyer’s hands, and walked up to him, his voice modulator activated. He stood right above him, his arrow aiming at his head. The lighting was bad, but Oliver could see the terrified look on the guy’s face. Good. He should be scared.

“You have failed this city.” He thundered, and he could see the guy  was shaking in fear. “You have thirty seconds to tell me everything about your operation in Star city, or you are going to a place much warmer than Iron Heights!”

 

The Count thought he could escape, it always worked before. He recognized the danger when he ran into that guy in the hockey mask, and threw his favourite toy: a smoke bomb, and used the distraction to start running towards cover, so he could disappear. But as soon as he stepped out of the smoke, he felt a prick in his neck. His strength left his body, and he fell forward.

People were suddenly standing above him, shapes blending into each other, faces appearing and disappearing in the shadows.. The vigilantes. They caught him, he was as good as gone. But they don’t know, he though, and chuckled. They have nooo idea. He felt like laughing so hard, because the joke was on them, and soon they will see it too. They will see it, oh they will.

“It’s coming.” He breathed, choking on his own laugh. “It’s in the shadows, and it’s coming. You can’t stop it.” He laughed again. “You will fail your own city. They will… They will die and you will too.”

Then he finally succumbed to the drugs and passed out.

 

Oliver put his bow down on the table. They busted the Count, the vertigo was out of game once again, and the other guy told him a lot of helpful info about a criminal operation. Yet, he still felt like something was wrong. The words the Count said, that Rene repeated to him, were ringing in his ear. Maybe they were just the ramblings of a mad guy. Or maybe it was a warning. He remembered the conversation he overheard: it sounded real enough.

“Well that was fun.” Rene said sarcastically. “Especially the part where we are going the fail the city, I really liked that part.”

“We are not going to.” Oliver reassured him, feeling the tiredness weighing him down. “But we do have to consider this threat. He said something was coming, right after a dimension gate was opened. We can’t ignore this warning. It may not be connected, but if it is, we have a problem.”

Felicity turned away from her computers, and pointed at them with her phone. “Maybe it’s time to call for backup? Just for the time of a vibe. Maybe Cisco can tell us something.”

Oliver looked at the phone, then sighed. “Alright, you call Barry and invite them over. BUT” he lifted his finger up “just for the time of a vibe.”

“Yeah sure, of course, professional, always.” She turned around in her chair, and Oliver heard her mutter “I haven’t seen Barry since November, I can’t wait to talk to him. A team-up, again, yesss.”

 

“Yes, this will be perfect. So, when can I move in?” Daisy asked, looking around in the apartment.

The manager smiled at her, obviously falling for her charms. “As soon as the paperwork is done, so by today afternoon, you will be able to call yourself the new resident of this shining apartment. If you have the money in cash as you promised, of course.” He added.

“Of course.” Daisy nodded. “I’m wondering if we could hurry it up though, because I have a job interview in the afternoon, and I really don’t want to be late.”


	3. You again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made some changes in the canon concerning some jobs for plot reasons (and because it bothered me that we have no idea what anyone does when they are not dressing up in the name of justice)

Barry heard the bike before he saw Oliver himself, as he turned the corner with the motorcycle. He parked some distance away from them, hopping off and taking off his helmet. He was wearing a suit so Barry guessed he was coming from work.

“It’s good to see you Ollie.” He said delightedly, and before Oliver could have a chance to move away, quickly hugged him.

“Good to see you too Barry.” Oliver answered, his voice clearly uncomfortable. As the hug ended, he quickly put some distance between the two of them, as if to show that he did not want any more hug surprises. Or at least that’s what he wanted people to think, but Barry knew that inside Oliver was a big softie, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. And that is why he will hug him next time too.

Oliver nodded at the other scientist. “Cisco.”

"Hi Oliver,” Cisco said and waved at him.

“Sorry to drag you guys all the way to Star city.”

“It’s okay, we get it, you needed…” Cisco adjusted his goggles with a smirk “a professional for this.”

Oliver all but rolled his eyes, while Barry laughed. “Hey Ollie, how come you are here? I thought you were doing, you know, whatever you are doing as the mayor.”

Oliver didn’t exactly smile, but some kind of amusement appeared in his eyes, so Barry counted that as a win. “It’s my lunchbreak.”

“But don’t you have bodyguards or something?”

Oliver did smile at that, and didn’t comment. That somehow gave Barry a bad feeling.

“So, can we begin?” Felicity interrupted, taking out her phone and using it to guide her to the exact location of the breach. “It happened right here. Cisco?”

Nobody said anything now, looking at Cisco expectantly. He adjusted his goggles, and lifted his gloved hands up. “Here goes nothing.” He said, and vibed the portal.

Suddenly, everyone disappeared from around him, he was standing alone, at night, but on the same pavement. Then there was the sound of crackling of energy right in front of him, and a portal opened.

But it wasn’t the average portal, the one that he has seen many times: It wasn’t just opened, it was forced open. It was like a punch to the barriers between the unvierses. making Cisco feel sick, it felt so unnatural.

But then, something, actually no, someone fell through it. Cisco tried to take a closer look, to see who it was, but the whole person was a blur, he couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman, or human at all. It looked like Barry when he was vibrating, only it was way worse, this time, it wasn’t the person who was vibrating: it was Cisco’s powers that simply couldn’t adjust to the vibration of the new object, and so, he couldn’t see it. He has never experienced anything like that before. Nothing ever had a vibration that didn't fit into its environment.

The portal opened again, and two bags fell through, but before Cisco could see them, the vibe ended.

“Hoooly…” He shook his head, tying to readjust to the present, taking of his goggles. “That was extreme.”

“What did you see?” Oliver asked, his hand in the air to silence everyone else.

Cisco shook his head again. “I’m not really sure actually. But that portal, right there? That was anything BUT natural. It was… it was like someone broke down the dimensional barrier with force.”

“What?”

“Well, when someone enters through a door, they usually use the doorknob or a key. Not this guy. He, or she, broke down the door with a god damn truck.”

“That does not sound good.” Felicity noted.

“It’s terrible.” Cisco agreed.

Oliver silenced them again with his hand movement. “But did you see who, or what it was?”

“No. Whoever it was had a vibration of its own, completely different to its environment. I couldn’t see anything but a shape.”

Oliver rubbed his forehead. “So, we are exactly where we started. Great.”

Barry moved next to him, putting his hand on his shoulder. “Hey, Oliver, don’t worry we will figure this out. We always do.”

“Yeah well, I’ve got to get back now.” He shook his head. “Thank you for your help Cisco.”

“Any time man.”

“Wait Ollie! Maybe I can help out in the town tonight?”

Oliver looked back at Barry, lifted up an eyebrow, and didn’t answer.

 

Barry did help out that night, because he wasn’t just going to sit and watch a hostage situation. He did follow Oliver’s plan though, and man was that refreshing, he never had plans like that. And when he did, they never worked. But it was like Oliver knew exactly what the bad guys were going to do, estimated it, and planned for it. Barry once again admitted to himself that Oliver may not have been the scientific mastermind, but he was a mastermind nonetheless.

“So what now?” Barry asked, as he delivered the last bad guy to the SCPD. “Shouldn’t you go to sleep? I mean, you have a job tomorrow.”

“I slept yesterday, I’m fine.” Oliver said, shrugging. The night was still young.

“Oh, then we do some patrolling?”

Oliver rolled his eyes at him. “No Barry, we are going to get a drink, and you are going to tell me about the latest evil speedster you came upon.”

“Are you kidding? I can’t tell if you are kidding.”

Oliver smiled slightly. “I am not kidding,” he assured him.

“Wait here.” Barry said, then disappeared, reappearing with two beers. “Actually, wait, better idea.” He disappeared again before Oliver could say anything, and the next thing Oliver knew was that he was standing on a rooftop, feeling sick.

“Barry, what did I say about warning me?” He asked, taking a big breath to at least preserve his remaining dignity.

“Sorry, I kinda forgot.” Barry made an apologetic face. “But I brought beers.”

Oliver opened his mouth to say something, then shook his head instead and just took one. He sat down on the edge of the building, “Cheers.” He said, and clinked his beer with Barry’s.

For a few minutes, they were sitting in silence, just staring at the city. “I talked with Felicity. We agreed that I should come over here more frequently now that you have a meta.” Barry blurted out suddenly.

“We don’t actually know it’s a meta Barry, and, no offense, I don’t need you to take care of my enemies. I have defeated metas before.”

“I know that.” Barry said, almost offended “but I’M worried about you Ollie. You have been working as a mayor, as a vigilante and as a teacher to your new recruits. When do you have the time for, I don’t know, anything really?”

Barry felt Oliver’s eyes at him, analyzing him. It took some time for the older man to answer. “I have been living this life for very long. I have been beaten, tortured, almost killed many times, but I’m still here. That’s because I keep going. If I stop doing that, If I stop, then I’m afraid I won’t have the power to start ever again. I can’t stop, and I can’t afford take breaks Barry.”

“You took a break once.” Barry noted, implying the few months he has been away with Felicity. “I hear you even found hobbies. I must admit, it’s kind of hard to imagine you making cupcakes.”

Oliver chuckled. “That was different. A lot has changed since then. I’ve learnt from that.”

Barry looked at the vigilante, and somehow, he felt something break in his chest. Oliver wasn’t whining, he wasn’t complaining. He truly believed that what he learnt was necessary for survival, just like all the things he had learnt from the island.

Oliver opened his heart up to someone, more than even, and yet, it was still broken. Barry wasn’t sure he could blame Oliver for closing up again. He has been through so much, too much for one person to bear. Barry couldn’t even fathom the things he has seen, what he has been through. And yet, here he was, leading a town, leading a vigilante team, and even finding time to care about people like Barry.

“You know” the speedster finally said “I never doubted you can handle the meta, but honestly, is it so bad to have superpowered back-up once in a while?”

Oliver chuckled. “I suppose sometimes it can be useful. Not too often, because I don’t want my team to get lazy.”

“Sir, yes sir.” Barry fake saluted, and they laughed.

Sometimes, Oliver thought, maybe, just maybe, sometimes he could use someone’s help who isn’t dependent on him.

 

Daisy woke up in surprising good mood. She had an apartment, she had a job, and she had an identity. She was ready to live this life for as long as it was needed. In just two days, she got herself a life, like the spy she had been trained to be for four years. She did everything according to protocol. She surveyed the environment, and she took the steps to fit in without any notice. Just like another job. Because that’s how she thought of this life: it’s a mission, fit in to this world, undetected, until they can come get her.

She climbed out of her bed, stretching. The curtains were drawn, only allowing the sunlight to filter in. She pushed them aside, looking out to the town. The sight wasn’t the best, but it could have been worse. Her apartment, on the other hand, was a real stroke of luck. It was big enough for more than one person, and it was surprisingly cheap. It had a big bathroom, two bedrooms, a kitchen together with a living room, and came with furniture. Yesterday, after the interview, she did the grocery shopping, so now she was all settled in.

This was the first day of work, and she had to go to the office earlier to be briefed. Although she passed all the tests and the background checks (hah, hacker priviliges) she still had a day of testing ahead of her before getting to the actual job.

She knew she chose the right job: she had the skills for it, it required her intelligence, everything she had learnt so far, and had that side of danger that she could never resist. Also, it would be a good way to fit into society, be there, and yet, never be noticed. To be the shadow that she needed to be.

Before going to the office she made a stop to the electric store for a new card, but she was very careful not to actually show the seller the insides of her phone: it had way better technology than normal phones after all.

 

Diggle was starting to regret accepting the job, but he knew why he was asked. He has been here long enough to be considered a pro, and the boss trusted him more than most. He honestly didn’t know what it was about him that made everyone go around and trust him. Maybe it was his face. Yes, definitely his face.

He watched with a neutral expression as the newbie arrived, noting how young and small she looked. Definitely not the type that normal people pegged to be the bodyguard type. But Diggle also took note of the air of confidence that surrounded her. The way her eyes surveyed the room, noting all exists, taking in all potential threats including the gun on Diggle’s belt, showed Diggle what he wanted to know.

The girl looked at every face in the room for a moment, settling on Diggle. He wasn’t sure how she knew he was the one that was waiting for her, as they haven’t been introduced before, but she must have realized it somehow, as she started off towards him.

“Daisy Johnson, sir.” She introduced herself, offering a handshake. “’I’m the newbie.”

That name rang a bell in Diggle’s head, he knew he should recognize it from somewhere, but h3 couldn’t quite grasp from where.

“John Diggle” He shook her hand, the small hand basically disappearing in his, and yet she still had a firm handshake. “I’ll be your guide today. If you are here that means two things: One, you have passed all the tests, meaning you have the skills that this job requires, and two, that you are dedicated to protecting people.”

“I am, sir.” She said, the confidence around her not wavering for one second. Diggle decided that he liked this girl, even if he couldn’t figure out why her name was so familiar. Dang it, he must be getting old.

“Good. After recent events, we are lacking in good body guards. Today, you are going to shadow me, and by tomorrow, you will have your own post.” Diggle pushed himself away from the table. “I believe it’s time for you to put on the uniform. The dressing room is that way, you will find a locker with your name” He pointed towards one of the doors to the side. “First, we will be meeting with the team for instructions, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know during the day."

 

Oliver was having a fairly good day for once. He had four hours of sleep after his talk with Barry, the new Count was behind bars, and it seemed that even if there is going to be trouble in Star city with the new meta, he had backup.

He got himself a coffee, adjusted his tie, said goodbye to Felicity and headed for his office.

But before he could enter his office, however, there was a surprise waiting for him in front of his door. He remembered Diggle saying something about having a new bodyguard for the office that will tag along for a day, but he did not expect to recognize the said bodyguard.

“Good morning, sir.” Diggle said, slipping into his bodyguard persona.

“Dig, hi.” Oliver greeted him with a smile.

“This is the new recruit.” Diggle said, nodding towards the woman with him. “Her name is…”

“Daisy Johnson, yes we’ve met I believe.” Oliver interrupted him, amusement hiding in his eyes as he turned towards the woman.


	4. Are you a friend (or are you a threat)?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest I don't know much of bodyguards, or the mayor's job, so all my knowledge comes from wikipedia and I'm kind of abusing the fact that I am the author of this fanfic so I decide what people do in it.  
> Also, I know it isn't perfect, but I can't make it better if nobody talks to me. Tell me what you think, good or bad, I'll be happy if you do.

“Well if it isn’t the guy who caught my coffee” the familiar woman noted with a smile. “And, apparently, you are they mayor.” She nodded with an impressed face. “I’ll be honest, did not see that coming.”

“And I am honestly surprised by that,” Oliver replied, because he really was surprised. Everybody always knew who he was. Always. “So you are the new recruit that Diggle mentioned? Aren’t you a little small to be a bodyguard?” He made sure that his voice was teasing: he did not mean to offend the brunette.

“Aren’t you a little honest for a politician?” She shot right back, making Diggle smile, even though he tried to hide it by looking down. Oliver thought he heard him mutter “Honest, yeah right...”

“I’m sorry, how do you two know each other?” The bodyguard said quickly, perhaps to mask his previous comment.

“We met at a café.” The brunette answered.

“She walked right into me.” Oliver decided to help out.

“It was an accident.”

“She threw her coffee.”

“I would have caught it.”

“That’s how we met.”

“Right.” Diggle said, his face impassive, but Oliver could hear just a little hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“Well, Mr. Mayor, it appears I’ll be one of the people protecting your safety today,” the brunette declared with a mock salute. “I promise not to throw my coffee at you this time.”

Oliver decided not to answer that, but did reward her with a small smile. He entered his office, the two bodyguards following (he was really hoping today there won’t be any emergencies, because then he can’t get to the foundry with the new bodyguard watching).

He subtly kept his eyes on her, remembering Felicity’s warning. It was suspicious, how she ended up right as the mayor’s bodyguard, just after meeting him accidently (?) in a coffee shop. There was something off about her.

He did notice how her eyes immediately scanned the room, mapping all the exists, her eyes lingering on the window.

“So, Miss Johnson, have you had any experience in being a bodyguard before?” He asked, opting to find out more: Felicity may be happy if he did.

“We could say that” she answered, her hands behind her back “I worked for a private company for the last four years.”

“And before that?”

She smiled. “I was hacking government agencies for a secret organization that believed in the freedom of information.”

Oliver, who was in the process of sitting in his chair, froze at that, and stared at her. So did Diggle.

“I’M kidding.” She added.

“Of course you are.” Oliver agreed immediately, although, for some reason, he didn’t seem to believe it completely. The scary part was that he has been watching the brunette’s body language since they entered the office. He should have been able to tell if she was joking. But now this either meant she really did hack government agencies, or she was very good at lying. Or possibly both. This woman was an enigma, and Oliver did not like enigmas. She could be a possible threat: he needed to figure it out, and do it fast.

His bodyguards were quiet for the rest of the day, he sometimes heard Diggle explaining things to his new protégé, but nothing else really happened. He did keep an eye on her all along, though.

She did not have a gun yet for safety reasons, but he had seen people who looked much less threatening take out people with less so he opted to be on his guard. Of course, nothing could happen to him: he was the mayor, his security was top priority, they would never do anything to endanger him. Not that they could have hurt him, but of course they didn’t know that.

This was a good test though, showing the hardest part of the job immediately at the beginning. See how they process it, how good they are, (including the boring part.)

 

Daisy was impressed. Since her job was to stand beside Oliver at all times and look for potential dangerous situations and keep other people away from him, she didn’t have much else to do but to pay attention to what the mayor was doing, and for someone as young as he was, he wasn’t half bad. He had a way to persuade even the most stubborn people, and what he wanted to do was just simply good.

“He really does want to make this town better, doesn’t he?” She asked Diggle silently.

“I believe that’s the only thing he wants.” He answered honestly.

“Well, he sure is good at it.” Daisy noted with a small smile.

“You bet he is.” His face didn’t show it, but his voice carried a little pride in it. Like he wasn’t just talking about the mayor, but a friend.

“So, you have been protecting him for long?”

“Ever since he came back from the island.”

Daisy almost asked, but then she opted against it. She can always ask her friend, the google. Ff this is something that is common knowledge in this world, then she can make a fool of herself here if she didn’t know about it. Let’s not do that, she decided, and just nodded as a response.

After that, they just stood for a while, doing their job in silence. But after a talk with the police captain about the Green Arrow, she couldn’t stop herself from commenting “he doesn’t seem to be really against the vigilante.”

“Are you?” Diggle asked her, and she thought for a moment. Is she? She hadn’t really thought about it so far. She had been so focused on trying to fit into this world that she didn’t have time to think about vigilantes. Also, what was it about men and their bows? Maybe the Arrow is this world’s Hawkeye? Interesting idea.

Now that she thought about it, she was not against the vigilante. She has been one too, not too long ago. And she understood what it was like, wanting to take justice into your own hands, seeing how the world can’t do what you can. They can’t fight like you can.

“I don’t think I am. This world is not black or white.” Or any world for that matter. “Justice isn’t either. Sometimes you just have to step up and do what’s right, no matter the consequences. And the Green Arrow seems to be doing what’s right.”

Diggle looked at her for a moment. Daisy couldn’t tell if he approved or disapproved of her opinion, his face told her nothing. “You seem to be talking from experience.” He offered her in the end.

Daisy considered her options. People who deny are much more suspicious than people who agree without agreeing, she decided.

“Maybe I did hack government facilities?” She asked jokingly. “You may never know.”

Diggle chuckled at that, and that was the end of their conversation.

At the end of the day, when they returned to the office with the rest of the team, Diggle approved of her to be assigned a post. That meant she will be protecting someone else tomorrow, most likely someone in the mayor’s office as it was incredibly in need of bodyguards: it’s not easy to keep them around when they keep dying and getting injured in attacks.

 

When Daisy finally got home, she was tired and very hungry, but she didn’t exactly have the power to cook or make something, so she just ordered pizza once again.

While she waited, she googled Oliver Queen.

She did not finish reading the biography by the time the pizza arrived. Man, that was some life he had there. First he is a billionaire playboy who visits the court frequently, then he ends up on a freakin’ island for five years. That sounded incredibly uncomfortable.

Then he came home and seemed to have changed. Not long after that his family got tied to a terrorist attack in the Glades (apparently, that was a rundown part of the city), they also lost the family business, then his mother died. He also admitted that his father died for him: taking a bullet to save him. (Daisy didn’t know how she felt about that. She knew firsthand how it felt when people you care about die for you, even though you never asked for it.) After all this, he went and ran for mayor and now he was here.

His best friend died in a terrorist attack, his longtime girlfriend died last year, and his girlfriend’s sister (with whom he also had an affair with?) died when the boat went down.

That was hell of a lot of death surrounding him.

This reminded her of a line she heard a long time ago. She wasn’t supposed to hear it, but she did, and she knew she will never forget it.

Wherever she goes…

_Death follows._

She shook her head. This was not the time to search for similarities between herself and some random guy. She can’t afford to get close to anyone. Not while she was here. Maybe not ever.

She absentmindedly picked up the mysterious metal ball and started throwing it between her hands while she searched on the internet for another interesting subject: the arrow.

 

By the time Diggle got to the lair, everyone else was down there. Well, everyone besides Felicity. She was away more and more nowadays. She left instructions that were clear even for a fool, but now that Curtis was on vacation, they expected her to be here more. And she was, until they caught the Count. But now, she was absent once again. Diggle shook his head. He didn’t blame her. She had a life. And yet, he somehow felt like she was deserting them. For some time, he thought she was the one thing that kept Oliver from becoming the Arrow completely: now he wasn’t sure anymore. He loved Felicity, he did, but Oliver was his brother and he needed him more. And he wasn’t sure approved how she treated Oliver in the last two years. Sure Oliver wasn’t blameless either, but Felicity sometimes went too far.

He shook his head and returned to the present. Rene and Dinah were practicing while Oliver was training on the salmon ladder. When he saw Diggle he jumped down, grabbing his hoodie and pulling it on.

“Dig, I wanted to talk to you.” He said, taking a swig from his water bottle.

“Let me guess: is it about a brunette bodyguard about this high” he showed Daisy’s height with his hand.

“Felicity has been insisting there is something wrong with her since day one,” Oliver stated. “I’ve been paying attention to her today. She acts like one of those Argus agents.”

“Are you sure that your suspicions are the reason you have been paying attention to her?”

Oliver looked at him completely serious. “Diggle this is not a joke. You talked to her more: tell me if she is a threat.”

“Oliver, I think this job is getting to your head. You see demons where there aren’t any. I have seen people with bad intentions, murderers. This girl isn’t one of them. She has ghosts, sure, but that isn’t any of our business. We all have secrets.”

Oliver looked at him, trying to read him, then sighed. “Good. She seemed like a good asset.”

“You are not planning to bring her into the crusade, are you?” Diggle asked, disapproval evident.

“There are enough people who know my secret already.” Oliver reassured him “I’m not about to go and volunteer to give my identity away to more people.”

“Then what exactly are your plans?”

“I don’t have any. I just saw a potential threat, I questioned it. That’s what I always do.”

Diggle didn’t believe him. He had a terrible sense of foreboding. He couldn’t explain it, but he knew that the appearance of this woman was bringing a change with it. Good or bad, he wasn’t sure.


	5. The first victim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really happy with this chapter, but I still hope you guys will like it.  
> And I guess warning for some gore in it, not that much though.

Oliver was standing on the top of the building, staring at the city, wondering. Everything was going alright now. There hadn’t been any big bads showing up lately, Star city was as quiet as it has ever been. Somehow, it felt too calm. With the metahuman breach and the count’s prediction, he couldn’t help but feel like this was nothing more but the calm before the storm.

If there is anything he had learnt during his time on the island, or as his time as a vigilante for that matter, it’s that you should never let your guard down. Once you do, you are bound to get hurt. The world is a dangerous, dark and cruel place. Out there nobody really cares about you, nobody will protect you, and when push comes to shove, they will abandon you, when they realize who you really are. What you really are.

Which is why he promised himself not to let his guard down ever again. Not just to be able to protect himself, but everyone he cares about. Even if, sometimes, they don’t get why he does what he does.

Things were better now. He was starting to see that some people won’t turn your back on you, no matter what. Like Diggle. He always came back. He didn’t give up on him even when he himself did. But the fear was still there. Oliver couldn’t let it go, couldn’t drown it. One day, he will abandon you. Leave you when you need him the most.

He shook his head to get rid of the mental image of Felicity, standing up and walking away, right after he had to give up his son.

“Oliver, if you are done staring at nothing and brooding, there is a robbery going on a few blocks from you” Diggle’s voice cut through the haze of his mind, and with that, he was back to the present.

“I’m on it,” he replied, sliding down the building using one of his arrows and his bow. “Am I gonna need the team for this?”

“Doubt it, it’s just a lone robber with gun. Nothing you can’t take handle even in your sleep. He seems like an amateur. The shopkeeper triggered the alarm and he didn’t even notice.”

Oliver soon saw that Diggle wasn’t exaggerating. The guy was truly amateur, and not even a good one. He was trying to rob a convenience store with a gun that he was swinging around like an idiot. His voice was shaking, and it was quite obvious he didn’t like what he was doing. Oliver rolled his eyes and used one of his darts to get the guy to drop the gun, causing the weapon to clatter on the ground. The robber swore and turned around to see what the hell happened.

His eyes opened wide when he saw who he was dealing with.

The archer entered the store, bow drawn, aiming at the robber. He was wearing a skimask, hiding most of his face, but it showed just enough for Oliver to see this guy was young and incredibly scared. But not just of him.

He contemplated for a moment, then lowered his bow. He picked up the gun and checked it: empty, as suspected. He never intended to hurt anyone then. Good, that’s good.

Oliver heard the sirens, so he grabbed the guy by his arm, and dragged him out of the store. The shopkeeper was just staring and staring, money forgotten in his hand.

“I’ll take care of this.” Oliver grunted to him as he passed by. “Are you hurt?”

The man shook his head, reassuring the archer.

Once Oliver would have been much less forgiving about this, but now, when he looked at this kid, he just remembered Roy. That kid hadn’t started out as a hero either, and then look how he ended up. One of the best people Oliver has had the luck of knowing.

The robber hadn’t even started struggling before they left the shop, only after that, but he was helpless in Oliver’s iron grip. He dragged the kid away from the shop, shot an Arrow towards the next building, and lifted both of them up so they’d end on the rooftop, away from the eyes of the police. When they were safe, he pushed the kid on the ground.

“Don’t even try to run,” he said calmly. The robber nodded, and stayed put, though shaking in his boots.

“Are you going to kill me?” He asked, and his voice only provided more proof of what Oliver already knew: he was young. (And very afraid.)

For a moment, he didn’t say anything, letting the kid reevaluate his life as he waited for the answer.

“I’m not going to kill you.” He tore the skimask off the kid. “However, I am tempted to give you to the police.”

The kid stared at him, now his face visible. “Please don’t do this,” He begged “I swear I’ll be good. Not gonna steal anything ever again. I’ll… I’ll join the church… aand… and and feed homeless if I have to.”

Oliver actually considered waiting a bit more before answering, just to see how far the kid was willing to go just to avoid being given to the police. He found it almost amusing.

“Tonight, you pointed a gun at someone. How do I know you won’t pull the trigger tomorrow?” Oliver asked, looking down at the kid, an arrow twirling in his hand.

“You saw the gun! It wasn’t even loaded!” This made Oliver frown. This wasn’t the answer he was waiting for.

“Maybe not today.”

The kid looked desperate, probably trying to think of a way to prove to the Green Arrow that he wasn’t just a criminal. OF course, Oliver already knew that. This kid wasn’t stealing because he wanted to. Maybe he did it because he didn’t know better, maybe he got into bad company. But those weren’t the eyes of a criminal. Those were the eyes of a kid who grew up in the bad part of Star city. This wasn’t entirely his fault, he was just the product of this place. Star city was sick, and it was Oliver’s job to make it better.

“Look, I… I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I’m not sure if I even could. I just wanted to get some cash. They kicked me out of my workplace yesterday. Again. I was desperate, okay?”

“And that justifies taking someone else’s money??” Oliver wondered for a moment if he was too hard on the kid, using the Arrow intimidation to its fullest. But then again, the kid did try to rob a store.

The questioned opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and looked at the ground, ashamed. “You are right.” He muttered, not even attempting to protect himself. “I’m scum. I can’t do anything right anyway.”

Oliver sighed. Now, he wasn’t a fool. He was well aware this might all be an act. But he also saw the kid’s eyes. It didn’t matter if he was truly just trying to make a scene or not, because the feelings were honest. He knew those feelings all too well.

“What’s your name kid?”

“Rob.” He chuckled a bit, but his voice remained sad. “Ironic huh?”

Oliver crouched down in front of him, but was careful that his face remained in shadows. “Look, Rob. I’ve been where you are. And I don’t think you are worthless. Just lost and misguided. I see the good in you, which is why I’m giving you one more chance.” The kid looked at him, wide eyes filled with wonder instead of fear. “What do you say, are you going to take that chance?”

“Nobody ever believed in me before.”

“Then prove to me it’s not misplaced.”

And with that, he was gone.

 

_Meanwhile on the rooftop:_

The kid was awestruck. The Arrow just told him that he believed in him. The freakin’ Green Arrow.

But wait…

“Uhm, this is great, but how will I get down from here? Mr. Green Arrow sir?”

 

“Nice job with the kid, Oliver.” Diggle said in the comms. “If I didn’t know you so well, I would worry you are going softhearted.”

“And if I didn’t know you Dig I would think that’s pride in your voice.” Oliver retorted.

“Maybe it is, Oliver, maybe it is.”

The archer smiled at that, but then something caught his eyes. He parked his bike, his eyes going wide for a moment. That was blood on the ground, and not just a few drops of it.

Someone was bleeding out here, not so long ago, as the blood wasn’t completely dry yet. Normally, he would think an ambulance took whoever was injured here, since with this amount of lost blood, the guy sure as hell wasn’t going anywhere, but he wasn’t here either. But no. There was a trail of blood, leading into one of the alleys.

Oliver had his bow in his hand in a moment’s notice, following the track into the darkness. He was careful, blending into the shadows, disappearing from the eyes of a normal person. The killer might still be around.

The trail of blood was surprisingly long. Did someone even have this much blood?

When he finally reached the end of the trail, he was kind of glad he had a strong stomach, having seen so many things already, otherwise he would have definitely thrown up. The person (man? woman? he couldn’t tell) was lying on the ground, dead. There wasn’t much left of the corpse. It was covered in bitemarks, but bits and pieces were missing, whole chunks had been bitten out of it. At one part Oliver could see the ribs poking out on the side, while the left feet had completely been bitten off, leaving the bone peeping out of the wound.

Oliver quickly suppressed his growing horrification, and started searching the perimeter, looking for whoever... or whatever did this. But in a few minutes it became painfully obvious that the killer was long gone.

He stood next to the corpse in silent mortification. “Guys.” He said into the comm, speaking for the first time since he saw the blood trail. “We’ve got a problem.”

“Is everything alright? You sound disturbed.”

“Remember when I said tonight the team can have a free night?”

“Yes?”

“I was wrong. Call them back. Everyone, even Felicity. Call Lance too.”

“Oliver, what’s going on?”

“I have no idea, but it’s very bad.”

 

Everyone was staring at the pictures, no words in their horror. Oliver couldn’t blame them, so he just sat down, waiting for the team to be ready to discuss it.

“I had worked at the police for a very long time.” Lance said finally “but I have never ever seen _anything_ like that.”

“The victim wasn’t just murdered. They were mutilated. Normally, I would think it was a rabid dog, but I’m not sure if any dog can do that amount of damage.” Oliver explained, his face serious, but his eyes only meeting horrified gazes.

“I think I’m gonna throw up.” Felicity said, jumping up from her seat and running away towards the bathroom. Oliver looked after her.

“I’m gonna check if she’s alright.” Diggle reassured him, and went after the hacker.

“Hooly shit.” Rene shook his head, looking a little bit green. “Dude, you’ve seen that in real life, how are you so damn calm? Is there a freaky meditation technic or something?”

“No. I’ve just seen worse.” Oliver stood up, standing next to Rene, putting his hand on his shoulder. “You okay?”

“No? How the hell could I be okay? Something torn that guy to pieces, and that something is still out there. You can actually see his skull there” Rene pointed at one of the pictures. “And it’s cracked.”

Oliver raised one eyebrow. “Let’s leave that part to the police. Dinah will contact us once they find something.” He looked towards the bathroom worriedly where Felicity and Diggle disappeared. There was a reason why Diggle went after her and not him. He was afraid he would just make things worse, like he always seemed to make things worse when around Felicity. “What’s important is that we get ready: we have a murderer out there. And it’s quite possibly metahuman.” He turned his attention back to the screen, where the dead body was displayed. In the background, he heard the bathroom door opening.

“We have heard of telepathic gorillas and that freaky sharkman or whatever that thing was.” Felicity’s voice was shaky, but she seemed to be walking confidently as Diggle escorted her back. “It’s possible that one of Central city’s exotic animals escaped to us.”

“Or maybe it’s the breacher.” Rene pointed out.

“We need to call Team Flash.” Felicity decided, already fishing out her phone. “They might be able to help.”

Oliver wanted to protest, but looking at the others he realized that it was the best if he didn’t. “Send them the pictures. But before that, go outside and take a few breaths,” he told them. “Diggle, I think it’s best if you contact Lyla. Maybe ARGUS knows something about this. Rene, you go with Felicity.”

As everyone left to do their task, he sat back down, feeling a slight sadness overtake him as he stared at the pictures.

The calm before the storm…

Is over.

 

Daisy inserted the comms into her ear, and put the belt with the gun around her waist. She had her post, she had her equipment, she was ready for the first day at work as a real bodyguard.

She was supposed to protect the deputy mayor in his office: so far, he had refused all bodyguards, but the mayor insisted on it, so Daisy was sent to protect him for today. Somehow it sounded like the “torture the new guy” joke to Daisy. She didn’t have to be a genius to realize that everyone thought that protecting the deputy mayor was useless. Something along the lines of the guy being a drunk and who would wanna attack him anyway. Diggle seemed to take the job seriously though as he gave her the orders, so she decided she would let every comment go and just do her job.

The deputy mayor was indeed unhappy when he found her waiting for him in front of his office. “You are kidding me right?” He asked, barely looking at her, just sidestepping and entering his office.

“I’m afraid not, sir.” Daisy said, following him.

He stopped abruptly, turning around and facing Daisy, looking down on her. “How many times do I have to tell you people? I’m ex police. I don’t need a bodyguard.”

“Those are nice words,” Daisy replied with a hint of sarcasm. “I’m sure they will look very good on your grave.”

The man lifted his finger up in an educating manner, his mouth opening and closing again as he was trying to find the right words to send Daisy to hell, but he, seemingly, couldn’t find an appropriate answer.

“I’m Quentin Lance.” He said finally, offering his hand up for a handshake.

“Daisy Johnson.” She shook his hand, then standing back. “See, that wasn’t that hard.”

“Pray it stays that way.” Lance turned away from her, heading for his desk, obviously intent on ignoring her for the rest of the day.  Daisy lifted her eyebrows, but kept the retort in. She did not want any trouble just yet, she was still new to the job, it would be a shame to be kicked out already for being rude to the freakin’ deputy mayor.

She sighed and stood to the side, watching quietly, unmoving.

 In a few hours, she started realizing that being deputy mayor was a boring job, as Lance did nothing but paperwork till midday. People came and left, but nothing else happened. Not that Daisy minded, she had way worse jobs when she was in SHIELD. Like paperwork.

She did notice that Lance kept looking at the picture on his desk. Daisy couldn’t quite see it from where she was standing, but it had two women and the deputy mayor on it, so she guessed it was showing people really close to him. “Your family?” She asked, not being able to contain her curiosity after he eyed it for a solid five minutes.

He startled. “God, I forgot about you. You must be like a damn ninja or something, not making a move or any sound for so long.”

“I’ll be sure to breath louder next time,” she quipped.

“You are a sassy one aren’t you? And yes. They are my daughters. Were. They aren’t with us anymore. At least one of them. The other one is… complicated.”

“I’m sorry” Daisy offered, and she meant it, even if she couldn’t even pretend to know what it was like to lose a child. She did know what it did to a parent. She knew from up close, and she will carry that memory for the rest of her life.

“Yeah well I don’t need you pity.” Lance looked at her “you have a family?”

“Not really. I grew up in the system.” I do have a family though, she added silently. They may not be related to me by blood, but they are and always will be my family.

The man’s gaze softened somewhat, and offered her a sad smile. “All alone then, huh?”

“That’s the only way I know how, sir.” Or knew how. Things were different now. ( _And yet, you still ran away when he died_ – her mind supplied unhelpfully.)

His look was almost pitiful now, as he prepared to say something. However, he was cut short when there was a knock on the door. Probably for the best, as Daisy did not like the poor orphan girl talk.

“Come in!” Lance shouted, and the door opened. It was the mayor, followed by Diggle. Queen gave her a brief smile before turning his attention to Lance, while the his bodyguard stood next to Daisy, greeting her with a nod. “Lance giving you a hard time?” He asked.

“He’s not that bad” she replied. “Had to work with much more difficult people in the past.” Much, much more difficult. Like, by a mile. Or ten.

“Tell me about it. I was in private security, I protected rich kids. Not my idea of a good time.”

“I can imagine,” Daisy smiled.

“Oliver was by far the worst. He kept ditching me.” He scoffed. “He still does that when I’m not the one assigned to him. That’s why it’s always me, because everyone else keeps quitting after he disappears for the sixth time, hell sometimes he even ditches me.”

Daisy couldn’t help but chuckle. “As someone who has been to war, I thought you’d be more cunning than a rich kid.”

“You’d be surprised.” Diggle folded his hands together. “How did you know I have been to war?”

“Besides the fact that your face and stance is screaming ‘hey, I’m ex-military’?” She sassed. “There was a military badge on your desk. And your eyes say a lot.”

“You are very perceptive.” Diggle pointed out, and Daisy wasn’t sure she liked the suspicion in his eyes.

“You have to be in this job.”

Their conversation was disturbed by the shouting from the hallway. There was an explosion, and then gunshots sounded just outside the door. Both bodyguards reacted instantly. Diggle pushed the table over so it provided cover, Daisy pulled her gun out and ushered the two civilians behind the table while pointing it towards the door.

Just in time, the next moment the door was kicked in, and four gunmen entered the room. Well, not exactly entered, just tried. Two met with bullets right away as Daisy and Diggle fired at them in sync. The other two, however, jumped to cover just in time.

Daisy knew she should be afraid, but she didn’t feel the tiniest bit of fear. Only annoyance. Like, this was her second day. Of course they had to attack now. That is just typical.

They started a firefight: the gunmen only leaning out from the protection of the wall to fire inside the office, but it was useless, the table covered their targets well. The same happened when Daisy or Diggle tried to shoot the gunmen: they hid behind the wall. It was a stalemate, both parties unable to harm the other. However, the gunmen had to act soon: They were at disadvantage, reinforcements would arrive any minute now, and they knew that. They had to make their move soon.

Daisy was on the verge of considering using her powers: Lives above her secret, always. Worst thing that can happen is that they think she is a metahuman, she could live with that.

But she was too late with that decision.

Something was tossed inside the room, and even though Diggle managed to shoot the guy who uncovered himself to throw it, it was simply too late.

A bomb landed right beside them.


	6. Don't save me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I don't dare to think about how many protocols I broke in this chapter. Well, I hope you will like it still.  
> Thank you for the comments, by the way, your encouragement means (and helps) a lot.

_Everything slowed down to an almost Flash level, as Oliver took in his surroundings. It wasn’t the first time he had experienced this: near death situations made him think faster, act faster. That’s one of the reasons he was able to survive for so long._

_As Oliver analyzed the circumstances, he realized three truths at the very same time:_

_One: Daisy’s the closest to the bomb, and she’s a pro: she’s bound to do something to protect the civilians._

_Two: They were too close to the wall, if they try to kick the bomb away, it wouldn’t help much._

_Three: If they try to run from the bomb, the remaining guy will shoot them down._

_It took less than a moment for Oliver to decide. He wasn’t going to let the girl die, even though he didn’t know her much. To him, it didn’t matter that her job was to protect them and not the other way around. He pushed Lance to Diggle, then grabbed Daisy, who was about to move towards the bomb, determination written on her face. He pulled her back with one strong movement._

_He recognized the bomb, just like he recognized its ticking. The countdown. He had less than three seconds before it exploded. He couldn’t grab it, not enough time. He couldn’t kick it farther away. He had but one choice, and he marveled on how stupid it was. Nevertheless, he grabbed the jacket off the chair near him and jumped, reaching the bomb in the exact moment the ticking stopped._

_He wasn’t going to let any of his friends die today._

He felt the bomb go silent under him, and was ready for the blast, mentally preparing himself, hoping against hope that the jacket between him and the bomb would somehow help enough to save his life.

But there was no blast.

Nothing happened.

The room was silent, everything frozen. It seemed all life has stopped around them, not a word, not a gunshot, not even a breath could be heard.  Oliver slowly moved off the bomb, once in his life not being able to believe his luck. The bomb was faulty. It didn’t go off. He survived, somehow. He didn’t want to tempt his luck, so he grabbed the bomb and threw it farther away from them, but not even the fall triggered it.

He felt two unbelieving pair of eyes staring at him. He looked back, his own eyes quite possibly filled with surprise. Lance was staring at him in horror and relief, while Diggle was slightly frowning. He had the face of someone who just witnessed a miracle, but knew that the miracle was not supposed to happen.

Daisy wasn’t looking at him. She was staring at the door, and she was right to. In her place, Oliver would have probably done the same. The last gunman soon looked to see what the hell was going on, gun ready. She didn’t hesitate a moment, shot the guy.

Oliver felt relief taking over. He lost all his strength at that moment, and just laid back on the ground with a groan. Well, at least he survived. He was going to get hell for this stunt.

“Is everyone alright?” Diggle asked, finding his voice. “Was anyone hurt? Mr. Lance? Oliver? Daisy?”

“I’m okay.” Lance replied immediately, and Daisy gave a noise that supposedly meant ‘fine, thanks’ too. Oliver just gave the thumbs up from the ground. They were all fine. Nobody was hurt, which wasn’t something Oliver was going to complain about, but it wasn’t supposed to happen. It simply wasn’t.

Oliver heard movements, so he looked up. Reinforcements were arriving, gun at the ready. But all they found was four dead gunmen and a dysfunctional bomb. They were so very late that made Oliver kinda worried at how unprotected the mayor really is, or so it seemed. But the back of his mind supplied that actually, this isn’t true. The reinforcements arrived quickly. It only felt like a lifetime for him.

 

Daisy could barely mask her impatience. They made them sit in an undamaged office while the police questioned them. The mayor was given a blanket (which he kept taking off but the woman officer named Drake kept putting back on him). The deputy mayor absolutely refused the blanket, and the police seemed to accept that. They seemed to act with respect around the man, and he talked to them like they were friends once upon a time. Which was possible, Daisy realized, since he did say he was ex-police.

She let Diggle do the talking whilst she was watching amused as Queen took off the blanket (again) and officer Drake put it back on him (again). For an outsider it seemed like she was trying to comfort him, but Daisy guessed there was more behind it. To her, it seemed like Drake was making fun of him. Mocking him, even. She could not imagine a situation where an officer was so comfortable with the mayor that she annoyed him on purpose after he was almost killed.

(Given, she did not know that Dinah Drake was taking her revenge on Oliver Queen for doing the stupid thing and jumping on the bomb. Like, that was a no-no. They already knew Oliver was a hero, there was no need to do stupid things like that. So yes, you are going to wear that blanket, Oliver.)

Daisy was mostly still trying to sort through what happened anyway. She knew exactly what she was doing, she had a plan. What she couldn’t understand was how the mayor, supposedly with no training whatsoever, was faster than her, managed to act before she could, going as far as trying to save HER life, when it was HER job to save HIS.

She did defuse that bomb though, so that was a win on her part, suck it Mr. Mayor. To be honest, she kind of wished Queen knew she saved his life, and not just out of pride. After all, defusing a bomb with your power, while not showing you have powers at all, and doing it all unnoticeably and under four seconds is not something one can just call pure luck. Not that is was in any way luck. This wasn’t the first time she defused a bomb, and quite possibly won’t be the last. May made her practice over and over and over again, until she could do it in less than six seconds. Now it seemed that under pressure she did not need six seconds. Good.

“Anything to add, Miss Johnson?” The officer asked, looking at her.

“Mr. Diggle about summed it up.” She shrugged. “Do we have any knowledge about why they attacked?”

The officer looked at his partner, who was just adjusting the blanket on Queen’s shoulder. The woman nodded, so he looked back at them. “We suspect it might have been Ian Quinn. His organization has been hurt a lot when the ACU discovered his shady side deals. He most probably blames Mayor Queen for this, and believes that if he is removed, the threat is gone. We just don’t have enough evidence to prove it.”

Daisy couldn’t suppress her initial shock at hearing the name Ian Quinn. It seems he existed in this universe too. Well, not too surprising, some people are just really hard to get rid of.  Typical. No Coulson or Steve Rogers in this universe, but of course there is an Ian Quinn. Sure there is. She ought to warn Queen to stay away from him, he had a tendency to shoot people, after all. Although, by now he probably also realized that.

Daisy couldn’t be grateful enough when they finally let them out of that goddamn office. Usually she didn’t have to keep so many secrets when she briefed the bosses, so this was very uncomfortable for her. Not very hard though, because by now she knew she lied well enough to fool a polygraph. Years of practice did that to you.

She took a big breath when she finally got out of the hallway. It was good to feel free again, and not locked in an office.

However, before she could leave for her home, Diggle stepped up next to her.

 “So, is it an everyday occurrence with you guys?” She joked. “Seeing as I was here for like two days and the mayor was already attacked.”

“Not everyday, but frequent enough” the man admitted, and Daisy felt the urge to laugh. She wasn’t even surprised. This was just her luck. “Star city is a dangerous place with dangerous men in it, especially if you go up headfirst against them like Oliver does.”

“I wonder how he’s not dead yet.” She made the bitter comment, but in her defense, she was tired.

Diggle put a hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright?”

“Peachy. Not like we just got into a gunfight and nearly got blown up.” She took a big breath calming her nerves. “Okay, sorry, I’m just tired bit. I didn’t mean to be bitchy.”

 Diggle looked at her with understanding. “Have you taken a life before?” He asked. “I know how it can a toll on someone.”

Daisy shook her head. She killed people before. In cold blood. She almost killed her best friends. It doesn’t matter that she was under influence, she tried to kill Mack. After that, what was this? Nothing.

“I’m fine. I killed before.” She replied, hoping that the ex-soldier won’t press the issue. But, even with that, Somehow, she also felt oddly touched that this person who only knew her for two days cared enough to ask. “Really, don’t worry about me.” She added, just to insure Diggle believed her.

“Got it.” He looked at her searchingly for a few more moments before nodding. “See you tomorrow at work then.”

“Sir, yes sir,” she mock saluted and headed for the exit, eager to get out of there finally.

But, to her displeasure (not really, actually) she found herself face to face with another person before she could leave. A person she had to talk to anyway.

She took another deep breath. She felt insecure about this, and she was Daisy Johnson, hacker, inhuman, SHIELD agent. She did not do ‘insecure’. At least not anymore.

“Mr. Mayor.” She greeted him. He looked up from his phone and greeted her with a nod. She realized with some amusement that he did lose the blanket after all.

“Miss Johnson. Good that we meet, I wanted to thank you personally, for protecting us.”

_Hah. You have no idea._ – Daisy thought with faint amusement.

 “Actually, I’m the one who needs to thank you. You saved my life after all, when you pulled me away from that bomb.” She said.

_No, you didn’t, but you don’t need to know that_. – She added in her mind.

“The bomb didn’t go off,” he noted. “I didn’t save you.”

“You couldn’t know that, so you kind of did. Which is why I also wanted to warn you, sir.”

“Warn me?” Now his full attention was on her, his face questioning. She looked into the unreadable blue eyes.

“Don’t try to save me, ever again. I’m the bodyguard, and you are the civilian, with all due respect, sir. I don’t need nor do I want your protection.” _I don’t want you to die for me. I don’t want anyone to die for me._

Queen searched her expression. He wasn’t taken aback by the harsh notice, his face was emotionless, not giving away anything he may have been thinking about. “Noted,” he said finally. “Is that all, Miss Johnson?”

“Actually, no. Please call me Daisy” she meant it as a peace offering, and he seemed to realize that as he answered with a smile.

“I suppose you can call me Oliver. Work isn’t the place you know me from, after all.”

“Right, the coffee. You are never going to let me live that down, are you?” Daisy felt relieved. Oliver took the warning very well, and hopefully understood it. She really hoped he would remember and respect her wish, because she wasn’t sure how many deaths she could take before she would snap. Enough people died for her.

“Not a chance.” Oliver’s blue eyes sparkled with humor for just a moment, then settled back to neutral. Daisy found she liked those eyes better when he was smiling.

This scared her somehow. She did not have to be a genius to realize she was attracted to him, and that wasn’t good. She did not have a good track record with men. Next thing she knows, it will turn out that Oliver Queen is actually a serial killer, if he doesn’t die for being around her first.

She did not exactly bolt, but left hurriedly after that. Note to self: stay away from Oliver Queen.

 

This was definitely not her day. Like, really not her day. Her door was open, the lock picked. Someone broke into her house. A robber went and broke into her goddamn house. She berated herself silently: she was an agent of SHIELD, she ought to have better security than this.

She entered cautiously, gun in hand, but also ready to quake the shit out of any unexpected guests.

The first thing that she noticed as she went in the door was the metal ball, sitting on the table. She did not leave that there. She left it in the bag. Did someone search the bag, and decided they did not need a metal ball, so they just put it on the table and left without it?

But the more she looked at the room, the more surprised she became. There was nothing missing. The laptop was where she left it, untouched. Not even moved a bit. Why wouldn’t they take the laptop?

Still wary, she entered the bedroom and checked the bags: both exactly as she left them. They didn’t steal anything. Even the money seemed untouched.

Did that mean… Were they still here?

She crouched down, touching the ground, and sending quakes through the whole apartment, searching. But nobody was in there, which in turn meant they left just like that. Not even moving anything. They broke in and then left. Who even does that?

She turned around, ad around, unbelieving. Then something caught her eyes.

It was the metal ball.

Out of its place.

Just sitting there.

Why was it there?

 

“Dinah.” Oliver’s voice carried a warning in it, as he stared at the woman who was sitting in one of the chairs in the foundry, a flegmatic expression on her face. “Next time you put that blanket on me, I swear to you…” He did not finish the sentence, but he stared at Dinah for solid two minutes to express his annoyance. He hated that blanket. She stared back at him, obviously not intimidated.

“Actually,” Diggle pushed himself away from the table he has been leaning against, “I wanted to say something similar to you.”

“John…”

“No Oliver. I thought we were through with this, then you go jump on a bomb. Do you know what would have happened if the bomb didn’t malfunction? It should have exploded, and you know that.” He stood in front of Oliver, and looked down at him, abusing the fact that he was taller than him.

“I’m not gonna apologize for trying to save your lives. It was the only course of action I could take.” Oliver understood why they were mad, he really did, what he didn’t understand was why they couldn’t see he had no other choice.

“Or you know, you coulda let that girl, Dizzy, take care of it.” Rene quipped from the side. “It was her job after all.”

“Her name is Daisy.” Oliver told Rene, not looking away from Diggle, keeping eye contact, showing he was not intimidated in the least. “And I was not gonna let her die when I could help it.”

“So you decided to die instead?” Diggle asked angrily. “Oliver, have you ever thought about what would happen to us if you died?”

“I died once already.” He pointed out. “You seemed to fare really well.”

“This is not a joke Oliver.” Diggle clenched his fist, and if it was anyone else in Oliver’s place, they would have been terrified by now, but not him. He wasn’t sure if he could even be scared anymore. He had been terrified so many times in his life, he was kinda sure he was immune to it by now.

Diggle stared at him for a few more moments, his face showing anger and resignation at the same time. “Oliver, next time you jump on a bomb, try to remember you are the only family Thea has left.”

That had the desired effect. Oliver felt like he was slapped on the face. He looked on the ground, suddenly feeling ashamed. He did not think of that. All he wanted to do was stop his friends from dying. Stop an innocent person from dying. He never meant to hurt Thea.

 The elevator beeped, signaling Felicity’s arrival. “I am so sorry, I’m late. I heard about what happened, Oliver, are you alright? You weren’t shot, were you? Of course you weren’t, you would be in a hospital then. Quentin isn’t here, is he okay?” She blabbered.

Oliver just shook his head, and decided he would go out a bit sooner tonight, he had a murderer to catch anyway. He had enough of all the lectures he was getting. Yet, somehow, he was touched. It was hard for him to believe that people actually cared for him. Why would they do that? Didn’t they learn that everyone and anyone who comes close to him gets burned?

Yet they wouldn’t abandon him. They were his team, his family even. And every time he saved a life, he was honoring them. Even when he was jumping on a bomb and makes them angry.

He grabbed his bow.

“One more thing.” Diggle stood in front of him. “Daisy. Did you notice it too?

“The fact that she was acting cold blooded and completely calm in a life and death situation, and that she didn’t even note that I wasn’t blown up until she got to shoot the last gunman?”

“There is something up with her, man.”

“I seem to recall you telling me I’m imagining things.” Oliver tried to go around Diggle, but he held his hand out to stop him.

“I’m not saying she’s a bad person. But the way she acted was freaky. Also, when Ian Quinn was mentioned, she was surprised. Like in the Not-that-guy-again kind of surprised.”

“Should I be worried how specifically you can describe her surprise?” Oliver joked, but getting a bit impatient.

“Trust me, I know that surprise up close and personal.” At that point Oliver thought he heard Felicity saying Count and disguising it with a cough in the background.

“What are you implying John?”

“Perhaps it’s time to hood up.”

“No.” Oliver shut the idea down immediately. “We do not know enough yet. I am not going to point my arrows at someone who didn’t do anything besides saving us.”

Diggle sighed. “Alright. But if things escalate…”

“I will not hesitate.” Oliver assured him, but he really didn’t like where this was going. Their last conversation was still living vivid in his mind.

Those eyes weren’t the eyes of a bad person. Now if Diggle could realize which side he was on, that would be great. One moment, he was saying Daisy was okay, next thing he knows Diggle was trying to convince him to threaten her.

Oliver, on his part, made his mind up. Daisy Johnson was not an enemy. However, since Adrian Chase, he knew that everyone was more on edge about new people in their life. Not that he could blame them. He himself had trust issues for longer than he could remember, and for good reasons.

He sighed, and looked around in the foundry. His sadness was soon overtaken by feeling of pride, as he saw Rene and Dinah training, Felicity typing on her computers, and Diggle taking apart his gun. They were more than a team now.

Somehow, he knew that whatever was going to happen, while he had his team, it will be fine.

Of course, the computer decided that was the perfect moment to beep.


	7. What do I call you?

Daisy leaned back. This was too easy. Somehow, it felt like in her world, firewalls were much harder to hack. She got through to Ian Quinn in no time, and finding evidence that he ordered the attack was even easier. In her world, it was harder to get a goddamn invitation to Ian Quinn’s party than getting evidence here, even if she did get that invitation on a phone. Or maybe she it was just because this wasn’t the first time she hacked this guy.

But now, came the real problem.

She considered who to send it to. Like, she could send it to the police, but this evidence was gotten in illegal ways, could they even use it?  And even if they could, since she broke the law, there would be an investigation. To her, they wouldn’t be able to get, but… Yeah, no, she wasn’t going to send it to the police. It wasn’t enough to get a billionaire like that guy persecuted anyway, he had an army of lawyers at his disposal.

And also, there was something in Daisy, something buried deep, something she didn’t want to admit even to herself. But it was there. That something didn’t just want to give it to the police. It made her want retribution. She wanted revenge. She wanted Quinn to know what it’s like when there is a weapon pointed at you and you realize that you could, and possibly would, die. She wanted to make him afraid.

Daisy made her decision.

Question: How do you track down a vigilante’s email address?

Answer: you don’t. She read enough about the vigilante to know that he had someone with a background in computers, and most probably, hacking. Someone good enough to stop cyberattacks in the past. So, all she had to do was get that person’s attention. If you don’t know how to contact them, then let them contact you.

 

The beeping as unexpected enough so that everyone turned towards the computer that Felicity was staring at.

“I am so not sure how, actually I know how, I just don’t know why, but someone just hacked Star city news page, and left a message.” Felicity blinked a few times. “It’s gibberish. Like, it makes no sense.” She gesticulated towards the screen, but all anyone could see was numbers and letters scrabbled all over without seemingly any system.

“I mean, why would you hack the news page unless you wanted to share something with… oh. OH!” She fistbumped the air. “I know what you are doing, Mr. Hacker. Or Miss. Whatever gender you are, I know what you are doing.”

“Felicity?”

“Oh, right sorry. I think the hacker isn’t trying to share something with the people on the newspage, I think they are trying to send other hackers a message.”

“Don’t you have a hackerclub or something where you can do that?” Rene asked, flopping down into a chair next to Felicity.

“This is definitely not legal.” Dinah pointed out.

“Talking about legal, shouldn’t you go to the station? This seems like a crime to me.” Oliver asked without looking away from the screen.

“It’s my night off. The captain said I only have to go in in case of emergency, and this doesn’t look like one. And I couldn’t help anyway. I’m not big on computers.”

“Wait a bit more guys. Just another minute.” Felicity noted.

It was a little bit more than a minute, but not much. “Oh, this is interesting. This guy must be a freaking genius in computer hacking. I mean, I don’t know many people who could come up with this. Maybe someone in Lylah’s freaky agency, but other than that, no not really.”

Oliver was starting to lose his patience. “Felicity, what’s going on?”

“Okay, long story short, as I told you, a hacker wanted to contact us. So she hacked the news page to get our attention, sent a message. I deciphered it, and answered.”

“Do we have a location on this hacker?”

“Trying to get a location would be useless, they are too good. I mean I could try, but it would take too long and they would surely notice it and then we wouldn’t get the information they are offering.”

“What information?”

“I’m waiting for the answer right now, Oliver. This is science and not some magic hodoo.”

“I feel like I am watching some series about geek superfriends right now.” Rene noted as he stared at the screen.

“Oh. My. God.” Felicity gasped and jumped up from the chair. Oliver leaned closer to take a good look at at the screen to see what she was so surprised about, and his breathing almost hitched. Almost.

“Is that Ian Quinn?” He asked.

Felicity nodded. “Very much so. I’m gonna have to look at the data, but it seems our mystery hacker did my job for me: I think she found evidence on Quinn.”

“Why not go to the police then?” Dinah questioned, folding her arms.

“This evidence was gotten illegally. I’m guessing whoever our mystery hacker is, did not want to start an investigation towards hackers. That is just so against the hacker code.”

“The what now?” Rene asked, surprise evident.

Oliver cleared his throat, trying to get everyone’s attention. “Felicity, I need you to look through the information about Quinn and determine if it’s enough.”

“With the amount of lawyers and money he has? You would need a confession next to the evidence for it to be anywhere near enough.” Dinah interrupted, looking at the screen as Felicity swept through the pages. “I think our hacker suspected that too.”

Oliver nodded. “Then I will suit up and do the rest. Team, come with me. Oh, and Felicity.”

“Yeah?”

“Try to find out more about this hacker. I do not want someone like that running around in Star city.”

Felicity nodded. She understood where Oliver was coming from: they had enough problems with Hackers already. But before she could have gotten anywhere with the investigation, a chat panel popped up.

“ **I only want to help. Don’t look for me, because you won’t find me, but I will know and won’t help you again.** ” – it read.

“ **How do I know that you aren’t dangerous?** ”

“ **I am not. To prove that I will leave this chat panel open. You can contact me if you ever need help. But if I find that you are trying to find out about my identity, I will attack your system, and we can find out who is better. But I don’t have much to lose, whilst I don’t think you’d be happy if I fried your system.** ”

Felicity considered her options. She knew she was one of the best hackers out there, but was it worth the risk? All the hacker did was help them. And it was someone who was concerned enough about Oliver Queen that they decided to retaliate after he was attacked. It may be the best to keep this ally.

 “ **What do I call you then**?” she asked.

It took a bit of time before Felicity got an answer.

“ **Call me Skye**.”

 

Daisy took a sip from her café as she watched the news channel.

“Last night there has been a reported attack against Ian Quinn by none other the Star city vigilante, the Green Arrow. It is not yet known why the vigilante would attack Mr. Quinn, and he has been unavailable for comment. It is unknown whether he was harmed during the attack…”

So she did manage to reach the Arrow then. Good. The other hacker was as good as Daisy thought she would be, which played right into her hand. Although, a little voice inside asked: _why did you give the information to the Green Arrow? You could have given it to the police. You could have. Do you want revenge this much?_

“If you ask me, the Arrow should have killed that man.” The barista said next to her, dragging Daisy out of her thoughts, probably just in time. “You know, I’m willing to bet that attack yesterday against the Mayor Queen? It was done by that piece of garbage.”

Daisy’s gaze flickered towards the barista. She stood with folded hands, pure disgust written on her face.

“Why do you think that?” Daisy asked, curious. She knew that the barista was right of course, but she wanted to know how the common people without any police intel or SHIELD training figured it out.

“Mr. Queen has been doing a bunch of stuff that got in the way of big shady companies like the Quinn enterprises. Only Quinn isn’t the sort of person to just let that go. He is cruel, ruthless, and most definitely a criminal.”

Daisy nodded. “So, you a big fan of the mayor?” She smiled and leaned closer. “Is it a crush?” She whispered.

The barista laughed. “I don’t think you will find a woman in Star city that doesn’t have a crush on that guy. His nickname is ‘mayor handsome’, if you haven’t heard it yet. But no, he isn’t my type. Too broody, and most definitely has commitment issues. He comes here from time to time, you know.”

“I know.” Daisy assured, thinking back to the awkward moment when she walked right into the guy. “I’m Daisy, by the way.”

“Angie.”

“I know, it’s on your shirt.” Daisy assured her with a hint of amusement.

The barista laughed embarrassedly. “Right, sorry, I forgot.”

“So, you’ve been living in Star city for long, Angie?” Daisy asked, curiosity taking over.

“All my life.” Angie shrugged, leaning on the counter. “Definitely not the best or the safest place in America, but I like it anyway. Got a lot safer since the Arrow appeared. You wouldn’t believe how much the crime rate has dropped.”

“Good thing I only moved in nowadays then,” Daisy joked.

“You are new here?” Angie seemed surprised, but Daisy’s answer was interrupted by a customer, asking for a coffee. She waited patiently until her company could pay attention to her again, drinking her coffee slowly and watching the news. Shame Ian Quinn got away that easily after meeting the vigilante. She hoped he would…

“Sorry.” Angie noted, joining her again at the counter. “So, you just moved here?”

“Oh yeah.” Daisy nodded. “I think you are the first person here I talked to just because of the fun of it, outside of work.

The barista seemed to be considering her for a moment, then smiled. “You know, me and my girlfriends are going shopping tonight. You should come with us, to meet some new people, get some friends. And also because I’m loving your style. That jacket is so cool, it’s not off this Earth.”

Daisy chuckled. _Oh sister, you have no idea._ “Yeah, I would like that.” She said with a smile.

“Awesome. At seven, in front of the café?”

“Works for me.”

Another customer stepped to the counter, and Daisy took that as her cue to leave. She was quite happy. She made a friend, and tonight, possibly more friends. Angie was obviously intelligent, she had to give her that, and very nice. Daisy could use people like that in her life.

As she was exiting the café, she bumped into a familiar face. Well, not literally this time.. “Mr. mayor.” She greeted him, surprised to see him.

“Daisy,” the man had a small smile on his lips as he greeted her, and it reached his always-serious blue eyes, even if only barely. “Also, please stop calling me that, you are working for Dig and Lance, not me.”

“I’ll consider it,” Daisy replied with half a smile. “I didn’t know you were here.” Normally, that wouldn’t mean anything. Only, she looked around the café when she entered, and she didn’t notice him.

“I didn’t want to be noticed.” Oliver answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “But then I saw you and I thought I would say hi.”

“That’s actually very nice of you,” she noted, feeling the suspicion gnawing at her insides. May told her that there were people who could hide their presence, making it impossible to be noticed, but she highly doubted that the mayor would be one of them. “You know, I really should get going. Lance will arrive at the office soon and I have to take over from that.” She explained, gesturing towards the door.

“Wait for me? We are actually going in the same direction.”

Daisy opened her mouth to say she really needed to go, but Oliver lifted his finger up. “Just let me say goodbye to Felicity, and we can go.”

Daisy nodded, her eyes searching the café. She recognized the blonde from when she first met Oliver in this same café. Only, she remembered noticing her when she entered the café. So why didn’t she notice Oliver?

He probably came in later, she realized, and suddenly felt like a fool for trying to find spy things in everything, when there was an obvious, common explanation.

“God, I’m becoming Coulson.” She murmured.

“What was that?” The returning Oliver asked, looking at her questioningly.

“Nothing. I’m just… nevermind.”

“Alright. Should we go then?” He offered, seemingly letting go of the issue, which made Daisy surprisingly glad. She didn’t want Oliver to think she was crazy.

“Sure.”

Suddenly, there was this prickling feeling at the back of her neck, a feeling she knew way too well. Someone was watching her.

She turned around, searching for the source. It didn’t take long to notice the blonde girl, Felicity, staring at her. Her gaze wasn’t, in any way, kind. She lifted an eyebrow at her.

“I don’t think your girlfriend likes me.” She said causally, as she turned around and headed for the exit.

“Who, Felicity?” Oliver raised his eyebrows. “She’s no my girlfriend. We are just friends.” His voice carried a kind of resignation in it.

Daisy refused to acknowledge the small feeling of relief in her gut. Nope, not going there, not happening.

“But you did date didn’t you?” She questioned, earning a surprised look that was quickly masked.

“Yeah. Are you by car?”

“Nah, I live close, I walk.” Daisy acknowledged the question for what it was: deflecting. “Why, are you? Aren’t you supposed to be taken by your bodyguard, by the way? I mean I get why Mr. Lance would refuse but you are kind of like, you know, the mayor and all.”

Oliver chuckled. “I am, but they can’t keep up with me.”

Oh right, Diggle mentioned he had a tendency to ditch bodyguards, Daisy remembered. That was kinda brave, and very, very foolish. Not that Daisy didn’t understand. She would have ditched anyone who was trying to follow her around too. Unless it was May. One does not just ditch May.

“Aren’t you afraid you’ll be attacked?” She asked curiously, trying to figure out the enigma that was Oliver Queen.

“I can protect myself pretty well.” He pointed out, stepping next to a bike. “Hop on, I’ll take you.”

“The mayor is riding a motorcycle. You know what, I’m not even going to pretend to be surprised by now.”

She sat behind him on the bike, hugging him to hold on. And, wow, those were some abs right there, she would know, she trained with Ward for months.

It has been some time since she has ridden a motorbike. She was just used to traveling by quinjets and sometimes cars that occasionally flew or started burning and wow when did that become so normal for her?

“You ready?” Oliver asked, starting the engines.

“Waiting on you Mr. Mayor.”

The drive wasn’t long, but almost as much fun as a flying car, if not more. Daisy wasn’t sure how much of that had to do with the driver, but she willed herself to think that only a very, tiny bit part.

He parked the bike with a graceful (and quite possibly dangerous) turn, but nobody seemed to pay attention around them. Some people nodded at Oliver as a greeting, murmuring a Good day, Mr. Mayor, but otherwise it seemed way too casual. Shouldn’t there be a tighter security detail around Oliver? He was attacked yesterday.

“That was fun.” Daisy hopped of the bike, realizing that she saved the time with this, which meant she was early. Lance probably wasn’t here yet.

“We could do it some other time. I heard you are new to Star city, I could show you some good places.” He answered, his voice casual.

“A tour by the mayor? Wow, I would most definitely like that.” Daisy approved, unable to contain a smile. “But, back to my question, after yesterday, why aren’t you afraid? They tell me you get attacked ridiculously frequently.”

“Ah, I’m kinda used to guns pointing at me,” the mayor answered with half a smile.

Daisy couldn’t help but stare at him questioningly, so much she could almost feel questionmarks appearing in her eyes, like in those ridiculous videos she came across when she was still a hacker and had time for that. Because as a SHIELD agents, she would never spend time on anything this childish. Never. Nope. Okay maybe sometimes, but only when May wasn’t around.

“You know how Lance used to be a police officer? I dated his daughter. He was not pleased.”

“I can’t imagine why that could have been, Mr. I-punched-a-paparazzi-in-the-face,” Daisy quipped, suddenly remembering all the things she read.

“You know about that.” It was a statement, yet Oliver sounded surprised.

“Yeah, I kinda may have googled you.”

Oliver sighed, but amusement was hiding in his eyes. “And to answer the question honestly, I am not scared because if I was, I wouldn’t be able to get through the day. And I do have security detail, I have Diggle. There was another guy, but I ditched him in the morning. And right now, I have you.”

Brave or stupid? Daisy was getting less and less sure. “You know, I wonder how you haven’t gotten shot already.”

Oliver shot her an unreadable look, but didn’t comment.

 “We should go inside” He offered, gesturing towards the building.

“I’m still early. I didn’t think the mayor would drive me, for some reason.”

“That’s not very clever of you. I don’t see why you wouldn’t calculate with that.”

Daisy contained her surprise at the sarcasm because, wow, Mr. Grumpy knows his way around sarcasm? That’s new. “It’s a mystery, isn’t it? I’ll have to do better next time.”

“Definitely.”

They headed towards the building, running into Diggle at the door.

“Oliver, Daisy.” The bodyguard greeted them, his eyes narrowing at the hacker.

“Diggle.” She nodded at him, and she felt his eyes trying to analyze her, the same way that May used to when she first joined SHIELD. She did not like the way he was trying to read her. Made her feel exposed, even though she knew there was nothing he could see.

 “Okay, what is your problem?” Daisy asked, deciding not to beat around the bush. She always did approach things straightforward, not liking cat and mouse games, and this time wasn’t any different. “You keep looking at me like I murdered your family or something.”

The two men exchanged looks, understanding each other with a simple glance. Only Daisy didn’t understand that glance, so this was pissing her off. Obviously, there was something going on, and she wanted to know what.

“It’s nothing,” Diggle assured her, and god, why didn’t Daisy believe that? “I’m just on edge lately. Sorry. Because of the attack yesterday, I’m seeing enemies everywhere.”

Okay, Daisy could work with that. She knew how it felt like, not being able to trust anyone anymore. Even though part of her suspected that this wasn’t the root of the issue, she was willing to let it go for now.

 

Oliver felt Diggle’s eyes on him as he settled into his chair, looking unhappily at the pile of paper sitting on his desk. This part of the job made him long for it to be night so he could go out there again, hit the streets, and quite possibly hit the thugs too.

“Do you want to say something, Dig?” He asked nonchalantly, waiting for the bodyguard to speak his mind, knowing it would happen eventually anyway.

“What’s going on between you and Daisy?” He asked bluntly.

“I’m not sure actually. I keep bumping into her.” Oliver answered.

“So you just decided to take her on a ride with your motorcycle because you bumped into her?” Diggle folded him arms.

“Believe it or not, John, that’s exactly what happened.”

Diggle, obviously, didn’t believe it.

“Okay, why don’t you share what do you think is happening? You have that face where you know something but think it’s absolutely useless to share it with me because I won’t believe it anyway.”

“I don’t have a face like that.” Diggle protested.

“It’s actually your default face.”

“Very funny Oliver. Are you planning to make a move on Daisy?”

Oliver sighed and looked up from the papers. So that’s what it was all about then, as he suspected. “Is that disapproval I hear in your voice?”

“No man, it’s worry. Daisy seems like a nice girl, but she is hiding something.”

“That didn’t seem to bother you before.”

“Before I didn’t know she knew Ian Quinn.”

“Fair point.” Oliver rubbed his temple. “But if I stay away from her, how are we going to get answers?”

Diggle stared at him, long and hard. Oliver opted to ignore it, turning his attention back to the papers, but suspecting that the conversation wasn’t finished.

“So is this just a play? Get close to Daisy to find out more about her?”

“Does it matter?” Oliver was done with the questions, and he made sure Diggle heard that from his emphasizing. To be honest, even he wasn’t sure what he wanted from Daisy. He was intrigued by her, yes, and you would have to be blind to not see how pretty she was. But he was also no fool. People he got into a relationship with always, without exception, gotten hurt. Laurel, Sarah, Mckenna, Felicity, and lately Susan, and this not mentioning the five years he has been away.

But then again, he never could stay away from a pretty face, could he?


	8. Heed my warning (or die)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again :D  
> I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again, as my computer is getting an update, and I just got surprisingly busy with a summer job, but I'll do my best.

A week has passed since the attack on the mayor and the deputy mayor. Ian Quinn was charged with attempted murder, illegal drug and weapon dealing, and a lost list of other incriminating things, after he handed in his signed confession after a visit by the vigilante. However, something was wrong. Oliver was ninety percent sure that the man had some kind of play in mind in this case scenario. People like him always had a backup plan.

But that was only one thing. There was also the murder that had taken place about a week ago. Oliver and team Arrow didn’t get much further concerning the killer’s case: there was simply too little to go on, and Team Flash hasn’t found anything either. The teethmarks on the victim matched that of a human’s teeth, however, Cisco stated that no human would be able to bite off a foot, and if they did, why would they even do that? But the Central team did confirm that the DNA sample (that Dinah may or may not have stolen from evidence lockup) was from a meta, but otherwise, didn’t find out much more. Barry has been checking up a on them too: he even offered to sweep the city, trying to find the meta, but Oliver refused. He saw what this meta could do, and he had absolutely no intention to send Barry to face it.

They did hear about Skye more and more. Oliver couldn’t say he was fond of the idea, a hacker on Felicity‘s level, just out there with no chance of being found. But also, he couldn’t deny she(?) has been helpful. She only talked with Felicity so far, but provided intel and because of her, Felicity was intrigued enough to come by the bunker more frequently again.

Oliver rubbed his temple. There was just so much going on right now, he didn’t even know where to start. And also, there was the question of Daisy. She just wouldn’t leave his thoughts for some reason.

Oliver checked his watch: he still had half an hour until the meeting in city hall.

There was a knock on the door. “Come in.” He shouted, and Thea entered. She had a smile on her face, looking happier than Oliver has seen her in a while.

“Speedy, what got you so cheerful? Not planning to take another week off, are you?” He asked, amused.

“No, but I do have some good news.” She handed him a paper. “The council approved of your plan of helping the hospitals with a fundraiser gala. You will have to make a speech of course, and it wouldn’t hurt if you arrived on time for once. Or, you know, arrived at all. And you should really start looking for a date.”

“That is great news. But” Oliver lifted an eyebrow “why do I need a date?”

“Well, you are the mayor, it would look good if you brought someone with you. As long as it’s not Susan.” She did nothing to try and hide the disapproval in her voice.

“Susan is not around anymore.” Oliver sighed. “I’ll just ask Dinah.”

“Or you know, you could bring that girl, Daisy. I heard you get along quite well.”

“And where exactly did you hear that, Speedy?” Oliver asked, even though he wasn’t that curious about the answer, already expecting it.

“Oh, just here and there.” Thea smiled mysteriously. “I may or may not have asked Diggle to find a replacement in bodyguards for Quentin on the gala.”

“You are kidding right?” Oliver felt his tiredness take over. His sister was playing matchmaker again.

“Nope.” Thea smirked at him unashamedly before turning around and heading towards the exit. “And don’t forget the city hall meeting!” She shouted back from the door.

“How could I?” Oliver asked himself and the paper in front of him.

 

Daisy barely noticed the week that flew by. She had been busy. The bodyguard job was a good choice: Nobody questioned why her eyes always searched for the exit first. Why she saw everyone as a potential threat. Because she could see that Diggle noticed. He never said anything though. Never asked anything. But she knew he was watching her.

She made friends with Angie and her friends. It wasn’t a bond anywhere near as deep as she the one she had with Jemma, nor it could ever be, but it was enough to keep her company.

She was kind of disappointed she didn’t really get to talk to Oliver for a week. He was nice enough when they met, but he was closed off, showing nowhere near the kind friendliness he had showed before. Maybe it was for the best. So why was she disappointed?

There was another thing she did, that she shouldn’t have, to be honest. The crime in this city wasn’t her problem. This wasn’t her universe, wasn’t her responsibility. Yet, every time the glorified leather squad wrote to her, she answered.

The other hacker, Overwatch, and Daisy would work together on cases, becoming almost unstoppable. However, it wasn’t the same as it was with Miles. Daisy remembered what it was like to work with a hacker who clicked with her, like puzzle pieces, and Overwatch wasn’t that person. You can tell a lot about someone just by the way they work together with other people who are on the same skill level, and Daisy felt like whoever Overwatch was, she was a very self-centered person. She did not work well with Daisy, it became obvious for her very soon. Yes, Overwatch was a good hacker, but the more Daisy interacted with her, the less she had liked her.

But it was surprisingly good to work with the vigilantes nonetheless. Daisy felt useful, powerful once again. It helped dealing with the emptiness in her that has been growing bigger and bigger every day since she left her universe, and the fact that she couldn’t use her powers here didn’t help at all. Maybe she should move to Central city, find the Flash, work with him. Help metahumans like she helped Inhumans.

As nice as it sounded, Daisy knew she could never do that. Just the thought of it made her heart ache with sadness, wishing so hard she could go home. Going to Central right now would just be acid on her wounds. Also, she wasn’t a metahuman. She was an inhuman, and she was proud of that.

There was also the question of the metal ball. It has not exhibited any other strange signs ever since the break-in. There was no cue as to what the hell it was supposed to be, none at all. Daisy would spend hours upon hours trying to figure it out, searching it, even quaking it. No result.

Right now, Daisy was standing quietly at the side of the room, not bothering and yet being there. Lance hasn’t complained about having a bodyguard since the attack, and that was good, but that didn’t mean he was happy she was there. Mostly he just ignored her, sometimes even forgetting about her.

He was talking to Thea Queen right now, about some fundraising gala for the hospitals.

This wasn’t the first time Daisy has met Thea. She came by frequently, sometimes in official business, sometimes just to chat with Lance. Daisy never listened in, not because she didn’t want to, but because it seemed too personal.

She decided early on she liked the younger Queen sibling. They have talked once or twice and although Daisy wouldn’t go as far as saying they were friends, they definitely clicked.

“Daisy!” Thea stepped up to her, her conversation about the gala with Lance obviously done.

“Miss Queen,” Daisy greeted her.

“You know there is this gala next week?”

“Yeah.”

“I just wanted to let you know that you will not be Quentin’s bodyguard on the gala, so you know, if someone happens to ask you to be their plus one, you can say yes.” She winked at her, turned around, and walked away. Just like that. Daisy was left there dumbfounded, asking what the hell was that. She automatically looked at Lance, her confusion written on her face.

“Don’t look at me, I have no idea what she’s talking about,” the ex-police officer deflected with a shrug.

“Well okay then,” she muttered. Did she like Thea Queen? Yes. Did she understand Thea Queen? Not in the slightest.

It wasn’t until Lance’s lunchbreak that she understood. He was talking to some guys from the police station, so she has been asked to step away a little. That’s when Oliver approached her.

“Mr. Mayor, what can I help you with?” She asked in a playful tone, and at the edge of her vision she could see Lance rolling his eyes.

“It’s about the fundraising gala next week.” He didn’t exactly seem embarrassed, but he did seem uncomfortable a bit. It wasn’t obvious, and had Daisy not been near May for four years, she would have totally missed it. But once you can more or less read May’s emotions, you can basically read anyone else too. However, Oliver proved to be a challenge on that side too. That was possibly one reason why Daisy seemed to find herself being so intrigued by him. “I was wondering if you wanted to accompany me as my plus one?” Oliver asked.

And oh, that explained it. Thea was planning, that’s what it was all about.

Daisy considered. Did she want to? Yes, most definitely. But should she? Oliver Queen was handsome, and he was a nice person. But he was also the mayor, who happened to be a very reckless human. He could get hurt. He could be killed any time.

Little did Daisy know that very similar things were going through Oliver’s head.

They stared at each other, doubt whirling in both of their heads.

Maybe that’s why. Maybe they just knew, as they looked into each other’s eyes. Maybe on a basic, instinct level, they realized it, recognized it.

“I can’t really refuse an offer like that, can I?” Daisy asked with a smile. “I’d be honored.”

Oliver seemed surprised at that, but masked it quickly. Again, his emotions were hardly readable. Like a whisper in a loud room, his real face was shaded by the face he showed to everyone. A face Daisy believed she could finally start to see through.

He smiled at her, and that smile was real, she could tell, and it made her chest just a little bit warmer.

 

“You seem oddly happy.” Felicity pointed out, looking up from her computer. “Did you beat someone up again?”

“What? No.” Oliver frowned, putting down the arrowhead he was sharpening. “I can’t just be happy?”

“Uhm, no? You are Oliver Queen. You are like ‘I am grumpy all the time after I have spent five years in hell.” She imitated with her best Oliver voice, completely missing how a flash of hurt appeared in Oliver’s eyes. He didn’t show it. He would never show it.

He didn’t comment, didn’t add how his voice did not sound like that, even though he wanted to, on some part. Instead, he just raised an eyebrow and went back to sharpening his arrowhead, and if he did it a little more aggressively, well nobody would notice it.

There was only the two of them down there. Diggle asked for a night off with his family, Oliver gladly agreeing to it. Rene hasn’t yet arrived, and Dinah was called in for an investigation. But at least Curtis was coming back soon.

“So what is it?” Felicity asked, not letting the question go.

“It’s nothing.” Oliver didn’t feel like talking about it. He knew how Felicity thought that Daisy was suspicious, and apparently, she managed to convince Dig too. However, he may deny it, but it was obviously that Diggle took a liking to Daisy too.

Felicity looked at him suspiciously, but he was saved by Rene arriving with a loud “Oh man, these cab drivers are lousy. I am surprised they were ever allowed to walk on these goddamn streets, not even mentioning driving on them.” He stopped abruptly when he saw how empty the bunker way. “I hope I ain’t interrupting.”

“Rene.” Oliver almost sounded relieved as he greeted the newest arrival. “Good that you are here. Yesterday, I noticed that in hand to hand combat, you have a tendency not to notice attacks that come from the left. Thought it was time for some training.”

Rene’s eyebrows shot up. “You noticed that while you were fighting with four other guys?” He asked, unbelieving.

“It’s hard not to notice,” Oliver offered. “You swear really loud.”

 

It’s ironic how it didn’t happen that night, when everybody was on leave but Felicity: it happened next day, when Felicity decided not to show up, and her phone was turned off too, and Oliver tried both her numbers.

“We have no chance of finding that place without Felicity.” Diggle stated, looking at the monitor.

“We can’t just leave the hostages to their fate!” Dinah exclaimed, anger burning in her eyes as she watched the video.

It was on TV. Three people, captured by some crazy guy with a gun. He hacked into the official channels to broadcast the video of him and the hostages: Two kids and their mother.

He must have been clever, because nobody was able to find where he was, but he was also nuts. It showed in his eyes, and the longer Oliver watched the video, the more he realized that.

“I have seen it you know,” the guy breathed, his eyes glinting in the light “it’s here. It’s a monster. And it will kill and kill and kill and you can’t kill it. You can’t touch it. It travels in the shadows, and it kills and kills AND KILLS.” He laughed, but it was desperate. “It’s an abomination. A freak of nature,” the man continued, “and the look in its eyes… that look…” He shook his head, and screamed. “But nobody believed me. Nobody would ever believe me. Do you believe me now? I demand that the city acknowledge the threat and I promise the prisoners will go home safe. I want a citywide search. Civilians need to go, or they will die. I want the mayor to make the statement.”

And that was it. That was the video. Everything they knew, in one three-minute video. And they could do nothing to find its source, because their IT person wasn’t here.

Oliver tried calling her again, hoping against hope, but it went to voicemail once again. “Felicity, where the hell are you? We need you here NOW.” he slammed the phone down on the table, taking a big breath, trying to calm down.

“Oliver, you are the mayor. You need to make a statement.” Diggle said finally, looking at the archer with sadness.

“I know that.” He said angrily, unsure what to do.

In that moment, a chat panel popped up.

 **“Overwatch, this is Skye. I’m here to help. I think I know how to find the guy.”** – It said in bold green letters.

Oliver wasted no time, sitting in front of the computer, his heartbeat picking up. **“This is Green Arrow. Where is he?”**

**“I narrowed it down to six city blocks, but the video was too short. Just another half a minute would be enough, I could find him. We need to get him to release another video.”**

Oliver stared at the screen, then nodded. **“I will take care of that. Be ready.”**

He stood up, looking at the team. **“Get ready. I’ll meet you at the back of City Hall. Bring my suit.”** With that, he was off.

 

He was standing in front of city Hall, cameras flashing in his face. “Aaron Swayer. We understand you have demands, and we are willing to negotiate with you, but you need to be more specific about what you want us to do. And we need proof that the other three hostages are alright.”

He turned around, and walked into the building, just to walk right through it. The others were waiting for him in a van where he told them to meet him. There would be no negotiation. This man was going down. Oliver jumped into the van, grabbing the bag with his suit.

Soon, the answer came. The man was standing in front of the hostages, who were tied up, a tape on their mouth. “Here they are.” He gestured at them. “Now, I believe my demands were clear. There is a monster in this city, something that’s dark and unnatural, living in the Glades. I want the Glades cleared of civilians, and I want the police to deploy forces there, to search it.”

The video may have went on, but it didn’t matter, because in that moment, Rene shouted “We’ve got him” in their comms, and Diggle stepped on the gas pedal.

It didn’t take long to take the man out. He barely lifted his gun and he was shot in the arm. All the hostages were fine, the kids crying into their mother’s lap. The mother looked at them with such gratefulness that it made the whole thing worth it. The civilians were safe, nobody died.

Felicity was waiting for them in the bunker when they got back, her eyes downcast. “I am so sorry.” She said, and Oliver wanted to shout, wanted to ask ‘Where were you?’ but he didn’t. Instead, he just went around her, and sat in front of the computer. The chat panel was still open.

“ **Thanks to you we saved a mother and two kids. If you ever need help, you know how to contact us.** ” He typed in, then stood up abruptly, went around Felicity again.

“I’m not mad at you, Felicity.” He said finally, as the whole team was standing there, their breaths kept in. Diggle had an unreadable expression on. “But I need you to decide. Are you in, or are you out. You can’t have it both ways Felicity. I can’t have you challenging my authority again and again, I can’t have you appearing and disappearing as you wish.”

Felicity stared at him. She seemed incredibly guilty, which was probably why she didn’t fight back, just stood there. Her obvious guilt  was one reason why Oliver didn’t shout at her. The other was that he just didn’t have the power to fight anymore. Not with Felicity. Not again. And in the end everything turned out fine.

 

In her apartment, Daisy stared at the screen. She hasn’t felt this happy since… She wasn’t sure, but it has been long. She felt purely good, as she stared at the open chat panel. She helped. Saved lives. Kids. A mother.

But she was also spooked, and she hasn’t been spooked in a long time either. There was something in that guy’s eyes. He was crazy, no doubt about it. But he was very, very afraid of something. A fear so primordial it most likely made him crazy.

The same thoughts were in Oliver’s head that night. He thought about how they found that body in the Glades. A body torn up so bad it made even the strongest people step back, horrified. Only a monster could do that.

There was something in Star city. Something dark. And it arrived the same time as the unnatural breach opened.

Oliver did not believe in coincidences.

Neither did Daisy.

Because she noticed another thing: the crazy guy said it traveled in the shadows.

Just like the inhuman that was sent after her in her universe.

 


	9. It's in the eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took a bit longer than I hoped, but here’s a new chapter. Also, I’m so grateful for all the comments I’m getting from you guys, they really inspire me to continue writing.  
> I know my Felicity hate is kind of getting apparent in the latest chapters, and I’m trying not to be too out of character because of it but ugh. Also it is so weird to refer to Daisy as Skye, but I still remember when it was the other way around.

Getting in Iron Heights was easier and easier every time he had done it, and it was nothing compared to trying to break into a military prison. Okay, it probably helped that he had a police officer to help him, and a hacker to back him up. He wasn’t sure how much he trusted this hacker yet, but Skye helped them before, and that was enough for Oliver to begin trusting her. Also, Curtis, finally back, was keeping an eye on things.

The lights turned off, the cameras blinking out, allowing Oliver to step in front of the cell where the guy he was visiting was being kept. He was separated from the other prisoners, as he was most obviously insane, and it disturbed the other inmates. He was going to be relocated soon to a psychiatric hospital, which is why Oliver had to visit now.

“Aaron Swayer.” He called to him. Swayer was sitting on his bed, staring in front of him. “I’m here to talk about the metahuman.”

Swayer lifted his eyes, but his look was foggy. “The monster?” He asked, his face distorted by an emotion between fear and hysteria.

“Yes. You’ve seen it.”

The guy laughed and stood up. “Seen it? I have looked into its eyes you know. You can’t kill it. Nobody listens to me. Everyone thinks I’m crazy, I’m not crazy, I have seen it, you haven’t seen it, you don’t understand, can’t understand, won’t understand.” He stepped closer, grabbing the bars, craziness burning in his eyes.

“I have seen its victim. I know what it’s capable of.” Oliver’s eyes narrowed. He knew it was stupid to hope he would find out anything from a person this crazy, but he was still hoping. That hope was getting smaller by the minute, though.

“Then you know what it’s capable of. You know, and yet, you are here. You should run. Far, far, far, far, run. It could kill you, it could kill me, any damn time it wants. It could just pop up, step out of the shadows, and kill us.” Aaron backed away with his arms spread. “Why bother?”

Oliver closed his eyes. There was no hope. This man was too far gone. He turned around, intending to leave, gripping his bow a bit stronger than necessary.

“However...” The man said suddenly, making Oliver halt. “You might as well be our only hope.” His voice sounded almost sane. Scared, but sane. Oliver turned around, his interest peaked. Maybe coming here wasn’t for naught after all.

“I was walking home from my job, at night, so shadows were all around. I remember…” His voice trailed off. “I remember thinking something was wrong. That’s when I saw it.” Swayer took a big, shaky breath. “It just appeared. Right out of the shadows, it popped up. I can’t describe what it looked like, but it wasn’t like anything I have seen before.” He shivered. “I looked into its eyes. That’s when I knew. I knew we are doomed.” He looked up, his eyes showing pure fear. “Once you look into those eyes, you are gone.”

Oliver nodded, suddenly feeling sorry for the man. He remembered Skye telling them that all she found on the guy was a few speeding tickets, otherwise, prior to the kidnapping, he hasn’t exhibited any criminal behavior.

 “I don’t know why it left me alive.” Swayer sighed. “But it did. It seems you are the only hope for this city, so I’m warning you: don’t look into its eyes. They have nothing but swirling madness and darkness you haven’t seen before. Nobody has. Don’t look into those eyes, no matter what. Do you know the story of Medusa? Well it is kind of like that, only it is much much worse than turning into stone.” Oliver frowned, but Swayer said it all completely seriously. “That’s all I could tell you.”

The archer felt his heart sink. He finally understood. For just a moment, he caught a glimpse of what the man had been like before. The metahuman made Aaron Swayer crazy, and it seems it happened because he looked into its eyes. Was that even possible? Oliver has seen many insane things in the last ten years, but this? This was new.

“GA., I hate to interrupt, but I’m afraid we have a problem. Police found another body, similar to the last one, in the Glades. God, it is so not good to be back.” Curtis told him through the comms.

Oliver shot one last look towards the guy in the cell, nodding a thanks at him. Swayer nodded back, stepping back into the darkness of his cell. Curtis wasn’t needed to guide him safely out of the prison as Skye apparently thought it would be funny to show him which way to go by flickering lamps.

“I really like this new hacker we have.” Curtis noted, as Oliver hopped on his motorbike. “She’s, or he’s, I’m not judgmental on names, definitely knows what they are doing. I wonder, is Skye a wordplay here? For Star city. You know, the sky watching over its stars. Would be so poetic.”

“Mr. Terrific, I don’t actually know where I am going, so if you could lead me that would be really helpful,” Oliver cut the rambling short, starting the engine.

The body was found in an alley once again. The police was already investigating, forcing Oliver to take higher ground and observe from there.

Even from up above, the sight was a gruesome one. The guy was torn apart, little bits of him littering the whole street. It seemed this one was in a much worse shape than the last one.

According to Swayer, this thing can travel in shadows, which would have been plausible if they weren’t already talking about a metahuman here. Who, apparently, could also make someone crazy just with its look.

Watching the police investigate wasn’t exactly loads of fun, but Oliver couldn’t make himself leave, a little thought at the back of his mind nagging him. What if the thing comes back? What if it decides that the police force looks tasty too?

Then something really unexpected happened. Oliver almost took a double take as he saw Barry (even though the bad lighting was bad, he could recognize him) approach the crime scene, flashing (not literally) a badge to the police officers standing in his way. Oliver couldn’t make out what he was saying, but the SCPD seemed to have accepted it as they stepped back from the body, allowing Barry to investigate it.

The CSI looked up for a moment, his eyes searching the rooftops. He noticed Oliver soon enough, even though the archer was pretty sure he was mostly hidden from sight. But then again, the CSI knew what he was looking for. When their eyes met, Oliver nodded at him.

“What’s going on?” He asked Curtis in a hushed tone.

“I have no idea and… oh hi Cisco. What’s up?” The scientist started talking to someone out of earshot, so Oliver deduced that Cisco just showed up in the bunker.

The archer patiently waited for the answer as Curtis talked with Cisco. Okay, patiently would be a bit of exaggeration, as he was losing his patience quickly, but did his best not to snap.

“Okay, so Cisco here is telling me that the SCPD asked for help from CCPD because they began to suspect that a metahuman was loose in Star city, and CCPD sent Barry. Wait does that mean you guys are here to stay until the murder is solved?”

Oliver sighed. Just what he needed. More people getting involved in this, endangering themselves. “And what is Cisco doing here?” He asked Curtis, the man repeating the question to Cisco.

“He says originally he came with Barry to take a look at your breacher problem, but now he’s here to vibe the body when it’s taken to the morgue.”

Oliver had to admit, that was a good idea, but that didn’t mean that he was happy more friends were coming to the city while it was under attack.

Soon he decided to head back. Barry could protect the police if anything were to happen, and the kid and Dinah would brief him later. He made his way back to the lair where the team was waiting for him, Curtis and Cisco talking about tech stuff, and Rene practicing with Diggle. The ex-marine did take Oliver’s observation to heart, guessing from the attacks he made Diggle use on him.

Felicity wasn’t here again. Most likely she was still guilty about what had happened as she hadn’t shown up in the last three days. Oliver wished he could say he didn’t miss her presence, but he did.

Because that’s what Oliver was like. Once he started caring about someone, he didn’t just stop, no matter what. Which is why he could never kill Slade, he couldn’t give up on Helena completely, why he didn’t want to leave Evelyn behind even after all that she has done.

Barry flashed into the bunker not long after, still in his normal clothes. His face wasn’t exactly horrified, but he seemed disturbed. “That was some messed up stuff there. Like, the guy’s nose was torn off clean.” He shook his head, taking a bite from the pizza (When did he get that pizza? he didn’t have pizza a moment ago) and gulping loudly. “I have seen quite a few dead bodies, I’m a CSI, but that goes pretty high on my list of gross victims.”

“Barry” Oliver stepped closer to the scientist, wanting to greet Barry with a handshake but getting a hug instead (damnit Barry).

“Ollie, it’s good to see you!”

“What did you find?” the archer asked, as soon as he was free again.

“Uhm, well, have to analyze the stuff first, so nothing yet. I’m actually going to take Cisco to the morgue now.”

“About that.” Oliver suddenly remembered something Swayer had told him. “Cisco, if you vibe the metahuman, don’t look into his eyes. There is a probability it will make you go crazy.”

“This is getting better and better.” Cisco muttered. “How do you know this?”

“The guy who had looked into its eyes told me. But he was crazy so it may not be true.” As soon as it left his mouth, Oliver knew that was not the right thing to say as Cisco got deathly pale.

“Great, our metahuman is a medusa wannabe. See, this is why I don’t like Star city. You don’t have metahumans, but when you do, even those are crazier than normal. Does it have a name yet?”

“Okay, Cisco, I think it’s time to go.” Barry noted, grabbing the scientist and flashing them away.

Oliver sighed, sitting down. He knew he couldn’t do anything but wait now, so he tried to occupy himself by looking at the computer screen where Curtis and Skye were having a conversation.

“Do you trust her?” Oliver asked Curtis, but almost immediately realized that was a stupid question. This was Curtis. He trusted everyone.

“Well, she is clever, doesn’t pry, and is obviously only trying to help. I’M thinking maybe…” Curtis looked at Oliver uncertainly. “Maybe in time, with her by our side, we could let Felicity go.”

Oliver didn’t let his feelings show. It hurt, yes, but he also knew that would be for the best for everyone. He simply couldn’t keep this up, constantly looking over his shoulder and hoping Felicity was still in the mood to be there.

Curtis apparently took his silence as agreement as he continued. “We should try to bring her in.”

Oliver thought for a moment. “Let me talk to her.” He said, gesturing towards the screen.

“ **Hi. It’s the Green Arrow again.** ” He wrote.

“ **And the boss shows up. How was prison? You should have tried the food, they say it’s something else.”**

Oliver chuckled. “ **Thank you for getting me in and out safely.** ”

“ **Oh please, Mr. Terrific could have done it too, you just wanted to check if you can trust me**.” The answer arrived, and Oliver frowned. Apparently, his plan wasn’t as subtle as he intended it to be. “ **What happened to Overwatch? Hadn’t checked in for days. I feel like I’m becoming the official hacker of team Green Arrow**.”

Well it was now or never, Oliver decided. “ **You should come in. Meet the team**.” He didn’t mention that the team was going to keep the mask on. Sue him, his trust was not endless.

 **“Wow Mr. Arrow, I feel like things are moving too fast here. At least buy me a dinner first.”** Curtis snorted next to him, and Oliver just shook his head. **“I appreciate the offer, but I would like to stay in the shadows for now. You aren’t the only ones with a secret identity.”**

“Is there anyone nowadays without one?” Curtis muttered under his breath. “Next thing I know, we find out the hot guy I met in Los Angeles last week is actually the devil or something. I mean his name was…”

Oliver ignored Curtis’ ranting, and concentrated on the chat panel. He was a bit disappointed, he had to admit. He was curious who the person behind the computer was. **“We will never be able to trust you completely until you show yourself.”**

“Actually, I’m surprised about that.” Curtis noted. “You are letting a person you know nothing about help you. That’s like, very unlike you.”

 **“I don’t need you to trust me. I need you to work with me so I can save your asses and help you save other people.”** The answer came.

**“Why exactly are you helping us?”**

**“Maybe I’m just a thrill seeker.”**

**“I don’t believe that**.”

**“Fine. At first it was because I knew the police would never catch Quinn, and I think the mayor is doing some good things here. I didn’t want him to get shot, I suppose. After that, I think it was because I found Overwatch intriguing. Now I’m here because I didn’t find your hacker trustable and thought you’d need backup. And look at that, I was right.”**

Oliver’s eyes narrowed at that, and he wasn’t the only one. Curtis was fidgeting next to him. The archer’s hand hovered over the keyboard for a moment, then he started typing. **“Why do you think Overwatch isn’t trustable?”**

The answer arrived shortly after.

**“You mean besides the fact that she’s incapable of following commands, her teamwork is lacking in all the important places, she’s bullheaded enough not to listen even when the other is right?”**

Oliver’s protective instincts immediately came into play. He wanted to say that wasn’t true, that Skye was going too far, and she had no right to say these things about Felicity when she knew nothing about her, but before he could do that, another message was sent.

**“And because she told me that she herself told you to kill Damien Darhk.”**

Okay that was surprising. Oliver lifted and eyebrow. It was true, he remembered Felicity telling him again and again to kill that son of a bitch, but that bastard deserved everything he got and more.

 **“And? he deserved it. Besides, I’ve killed enough people without her influence.”** Oliver answered, but before he could hit send, Curtis stopped him.

“Wait.” His face was serious. “Let her finish. I don’t think she’s done. I’m not saying I agree with her, but let’s listen to what she has to say.”

He wasn’t wrong, because not even a minute later, a long explanation arrived.

**“I can understand there sometimes isn’t a better way. But killing someone isn’t something you can just tell your friends to do, it’s manipulative, cruel and wrong. If she wanted him killed, she should have done it herself instead of ordering other people. You cannot trust people who order you to do things they aren’t willing to do themselves. You are her teammate not her lapdog.”**

Oliver stared at the screen. Skye didn’t understand. He had killed so many people before, he had done so many horrible things. Killing Darhk wasn’t something he had regretted.

But it also sounded like she wasn’t just talking about Felicity. Skye was talking like someone who has been used like that before. That would also explain the strong reaction they were getting, so much Oliver was almost tempted to ask Curtis to search the conversation between Skye and Felicity, so he could see what triggered the other hacker so much.

At that moment Barry and Cisco arrived back, saving Oliver from having to answer.

“ **Have to go.”** Oliver typed in. Then added **“thank you for your honesty.”**

“You don’t look good man.” Diggle noted, taking in Cisco’s paleness. “What did you see?”

“Please don’t ask me to do this ever again. I think I’m going to throw up.” Cisco shrank into a chair. “I saw it. It was… Not human.” He took a deep breath. “And it… It just tore that guy right apart. But I think I can put together something to find it. Maybe.” He shivered, gratefully accepting the blanket that Barry offered up to him.

“If you saw it, that means it’s not our breacher,” Diggle concluded. “You said the breacher was a blurr.”

“No, it couldn’t have been your mysterious visitor, it wasn’t vibrating. But I kind of wish it was, because wow, it was not pretty. I think it’s face is gonna stay with me for the rest of my life. I’m still going to name it though. After this, I deserve at least that.”

“But you can track it then?”

“I can try.”

Oliver nodded, partly relieved. If they could find it, at least they would have a chance to fight it.

“What do you guys think about the name Ugly Thing?”

“We are not calling it that.”

 

Barry just wished he could do more sometimes. Right now Central city was quiet, with no menacing threats looming over them, no evil speedster with unknown identity running around and destroying stuff, threatening loved ones here and there. But Oliver, it seemed, had no such luck. In his city psychopaths followed each other as if they were on a schedule.

Barry could almost imagine the supervillain lair with a calendar hanging on the wall, titled Star city. ‘Hey, Huntress, do you mind if I take next Wednesday? I heard you wanted to go.’ ‘No, Deathstroke, you can take that spot, I’ll go the week after. Just don’t stay too long, Vigilante already called dibs on Thursday.

The speedster sat in the chair next to Oliver, briefly glancing at the screen next to them when a message popped up on it. Curtis answered it immediately, Barry didn’t bother to read it.

“So, what’s up with Felicity?” He couldn’t help it, he was curious where the IT girl could have been at. Obviously, that wasn’t the right thing to say as Oliver’s face just got even more miserable.

“Left. Maybe for good.” He answered, and Barry itched to ask, but one look at Oliver told him not right now. He can always ask Diggle later.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He said instead, putting a hand on Oliver’s shoulder.

“It’s for the best.” The archer said, masking his feelings. “Her dedication to this” Oliver nodded at the foundry “has been lacking for a long time.”

“And we have another hacker now and she’s good, so Felicity doesn’t have to come just out of a sense of duty, and oh my god were you having an emotional moment? I’m so sorry I’m gonna shut up now.” Both vigilantes looked at Curtis, who opted to continue paying attention to the screen instead.

“Wait you have a new hacker?” Barry asked, surprised. “Then where is she?

“She’s not actually…” Oliver sighed. “We don’t know.”

“She kinda contacted us by hacking, and hasn’t revealed herself since.” Curtis offered, pointing at the screen. “But she’s like, super good, and I mean Felicity good.”

Barry looked at the screen, recognizing the chat he saw earlier. He shook his head. “Guys, how do you keep finding these awesome hackers?”

“For the record, Skye found us” Diggle noted, joining in the conversation. “But that’s not important right now. We have a serial killer on the lose.”

“Right, on it. In a moment.” Cisco said, the blanket wrapped around him.

“Want me to get you something? A coffee?” Barry offered, stepping next to his friend.

“A ticket back to Central would be nice,” Cisco grumbled. “Where we finally don’t have any serial killers.”

“Tell me about it.” Rene said, talking for the first time since Barry and Cisco arrived. The speedster guessed that was because the new vigilante was still kind of wary of metahumans. “Those damn psychos just keep showing up here. Do you think they plan it before or something?”

Barry smiled. “Funny you should say that.”


	10. Another dead end (not literally this time)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be completely honest, I’m not exactly happy with this chapter. It’s kinda meh, sorry about that, but at least next up we will have the first actual date between Daisy and Oliver, so yay for that :D.  
> And by the way, tags are there for a reason. I didn’t accidentally went and tagged not for Felicity fans. You have been warned guys. You have been warned.  
> Oh, and if you have any ideas, thoughts, or anything really about the first date, please share it with me, I really want to make that chapter a good one. (unlike this one *sad*)  
> Also, warning for bullshit science, as always.

Daisy stretched out, putting her computer next to her. She just couldn’t help it, she had to keep answering to Team Arrow (as Overwatch called them). They intrigued her, and working with them really helped with all the frustration pent up in her.

On one hand, she wanted to find out who they were, wanted nothing more than to start investigating them. To know more. On the other hand, she wanted to stay away from it as long as she could. She had made a promise to Coulson she would wait for them. They sent her here to keep her safe, so if she goes headfirst into danger, she is throwing away everything they had done for her.

To be honest, she never should have started working with team Arrow in the first place. But there was one more thing that made her want to help them, to gain their trust. Because they kept sending her everything they had about the new serial killer of Star city. And she needed all the information she could get.

That thing showed up not long after she did, and it had the same power as the inhuman that was sent after her. Chances are, they are one and the same.

But again, that inhuman may have had powers, but he was still very much human, even with the changed DNA. Was he a deadly assassin? Yes he was. He had the power to turn into the shadows, connecting him to basically everything in the world. He could go anywhere he wanted whenever he wanted, and he could find Daisy because as long as she had the smallest shadow, he knew where she was.

He was one of the most feared assassins in her world, and he had one job: To kill Daisy. And apparently, he took his job very seriously and came after her  into another world . But  how? As far as Daisy knew, SHIELD had the only device that was capable of crossing dimensions, and that was based off the Darkhold too. Also,  that didn’t explain the bitemarks, or the extreme violence. Did the assassin bring something with him? Or did he have some kind of power Daisy never knew about? And if he did travel here, why kill random people? Why not just go after her? She wished he did that, just come after her like he was supposed to. Even if he managed to kill her, even if she died, at least nobody else would be hurt. Seemed like a small price to pay.

Whatever the case, she couldn’t let Team Arrow find the assassin first. It was her responsibility. Everyone who has died on this Earth by the hands of the assassin died because of her, their blood was on her hands just as much as it was on the assassin’s. It made her stomach churn and her heart ache with guilt. It seemed no matter how far she ran, death would always follow her, people meeting their end because they were unlucky enough to be affected by her bad luck.

Why? Why must everything she comes into contact with turn to ash?

She wanted to contact her team now more than ever, to tell them what had happened, to find out if that thing really had followed her. She needed Coulson’s counsel, May’s strength, Mack’s support, and the light Fitzsimmons brought with them wherever they went.

The longing was heartbreaking, she just wanted to go home, to her team, to her family.

_So you can ruin them too?_ An unhelpful thought supplied.  _Like_ _you ruin everything._

Daisy’s fist clenched, and the glass of water next to her blew up. 

Okay, that wasn’t good. She was starting to lose control of her powers. Not using them for so long wasn’t good for her, and all this pent up stress definitely wasn’t helping.

Her eyes trailed on her uniform, hanging in the closet. She could…

No. Not yet. Not until she was sure. She hadn’t suited up for Quinn, she wasn’t going to suit up for this either. At least not until she knows how to find that thing.

  


Daisy followed Lance as they entered the mayor’s office. She wasn’t complaining, it was always nice to see Oliver (he did look good in a suit after all), but seriously, this was how Lance decided to spend his lunchbreak? With another meeting?

There were already two people in the office besides Oliver and Diggle, a guy with longish dark hair, and another, taller guy with a lanky figure and a nice smile. Daisy greeted Diggle with a nod, and Oliver with a smile.

“Mr. Mayor. Mr Diggle. And Allen, was it?” Lance stepped in front of the new guys. “And who are you exactly?”

“Cisco Ramon.” The guy with the longish hair shook Lance’s hand. “We are here to...”

“I know why you are here.” Lance stopped the guy mid-sentence. “Let’s wrap this up quick, it’s my lunchbreak.” At that moment, Daisy’s eyes met Ramon’s.

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” The guy said, stepping in front of Daisy. He offered up his hand for a handshake. “They did not mention they were using angels as bodyguards now. Does that make you a guardian angel?”

Daisy chuckled and accepted the offered hand. “Trust me, I’m as far from an angel as one can get. I’m Daisy by the way.”

“Cisco.”

“Uhm…” Daisy lifted her eyebrows as the man shook her hand a bit longer than necessary. Wasn’t he going to let go? “Not to be rude, but that’s my hand, and I’m going to need it back.”

“Right. Of course.” The man let go of her hand, and smirked at her. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay.” Daisy assured him, one part amused one part confused.

“Excuse my friend, he can be a bit weird sometimes.” The other guy offered, stepping next to Cisco, and sending him a questioning look. The other seemed to have been able to decipher it better than Daisy could because he shook his head as an answer. “I’m Barry Allen, by the way.” The lanky guy told her, as he, too, held out his hand for a handshake.

After she shook it,  Allen actually let go of her hand,  to her relief . That was the moment Oliver decided to clear his throat. “Gentlemen, I thought we are here to be briefed about the metahuman serial killer that’s running wild in my city.” 

His tone was carrying a warning in it, enough for Daisy to look at him. He, however, was staring at Diggle, doing one of their weird stare offs that Daisy wished she could read.

“Right, sorry, yes.” Allen said, turning back to Oliver.

Well, that was convenient. Daisy was happy for all and every opportunity to find out more about the new serial killer. Apparently, everyone here thought it was a metahuman, and maybe, just maybe, it was true. But Daisy couldn’t rely on that hope. The chances that this meta was actually her inhuman were too big.

 

As soon as the door closed behind Lance and Daisy, Oliver stood up, went around the table, leaned against it, and folded his arms. His stare was murderous.

“For the record” Cisco started fidgeting under Oliver’s gaze “I was against this plan all along. It wasn’t my idea to flirt with your girlfriend.” When Oliver’s face didn’t change, he hastily added “please don’t put an arrow in me.”

Oliver didn’t answer to that, just turned towards Diggle, his expression still not changing. The bodyguard shrugged. “Sorry man, it’s for your own safety.”

“So you just asked Cisco to vibe her? Without talking to me first?”

“Oliver, when it comes to pretty girls, you tend to have a blind spot. Remember Helena?”

“That was different.” Oliver wasn’t going to relent. They went behind his back. Again.

“Daisy is my colleague you know, and a good one at that. I want to trust her almost as much as you do, Oliver. But I just can’t. Not after Chase.”

Oliver closed his eyes, and sighed. The memory of that betrayal was still fresh in their minds.  He couldn’t blame Diggle for being suspicious. Instead, h e looked at Cisco. “So what did you see?”

“Nothing. Couldn’t vibe her.”

Oliver raised an eyebrow.

“How is that possible?” Diggle asked.

“My powers aren’t like a lamp you know. You can’t just turn it on and then expect it to work. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t.” Cisco huffed. “You know, if you were so suspicious of her, you could just do it in the original way, go all ‘I am the Green Arrow and I will shoot an arrow in your kneecap unless you tell me all your secrets’ on her. 

“Not happening.” Oliver stated, and did Barry seem relieved at that? He didn’t actually think Oliver would just go and put an arrow in someone’s knee just like that, right?

“We are not at that part yet.” Diggle agreed, and that actually made Oliver feel a little relieved too. He wasn’t sure how far this distrust that Diggle had towards Daisy went. Maybe he just wanted to make sure she wasn’t a threat, maybe he actually thought she was up to something.

Diggle seemed to have read Oliver’s face as he answered before he even asked. “I just want to make sure she is safe to be around, and not just as a bodyguard.” The implications in that made Oliver’s eyebrow shoot up.

“You have had your heart broken too many times. I’m your brother, I want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“I never asked you to protect me.”

“You didn’t have to.”

Barry was staring at the scene completely moved, smiling. Cisco, on the other hand, felt uncomfortable as hell, so he thought he would remind them they were here. “As touching as this bro to bro moment is, don’t we have a serial killer to catch?”

  


Oliver put his bow down on the table and pulled his hood back. Rene just threw his hockeymask next to the bow and slumped into one of the chairs. Dinah acted with more grace, opting to just lean against a table.

“Everyone alright?” Curtis asked, looking up from the screen.

“Yeah. Just tired.” Oliver assured him, standing next to Curtis with his hands on his hip, looking at the screen. Everything alright with Skye so far?”

“Yeah, she has been most helpful. Did you know there actually is a bunker under the Louvre?”

Oliver raised an eyebrow, but otherwise ignored the comment. Instead, he turned his attention to their guest scientist, working not far from them. “How is the… whatever you are building going?”

“This” Cisco help up the thing he has been building “is a vibration detector. It can detect different vibrations, and I set it just right so it can lead us to what we are looking for. And it’s about to be ready. Is Barry still at the police precinct?”

“Yes. Can we test it out tonight?”

“I think we should wait for Barry with this. You know, our enemy being a metahuman and all.”

Oliver stared at Cisco, unimpressed. The scientist stared back for about ten seconds before sighing. “Fine, but if you die, don’t blame me.”

“Noted.”

Cisco took about ten more minutes before declaring his work to be done, handing the device over to Oliver. “I suggest you take it to the last murder scene. Maybe it’s still close.”

Curtis took the device from Oliver, nodding as he analyzed it. “It should have about a ten-fifteen meter range, not much but best we can do on short notice.” He added, handing the device back. “So, who is going with you?”

Oliver looked at his team for a long time, his gaze not giving anything away. Yes, he would need backup if he came across the meta, but this was a whole new level of dangerous, where you had to be careful with even where you were looking. He couldn’t, wouldn’t risk their sanity. They were too new, too inexperienced, too prone to mistakes.

“Just Spartan.” He decided, looking at Diggle. The bodyguard nodded. He understood.

“What?” Rene complained. “Haven’t we proven ourselves already? For how long are ya gonna keep us off the street every time something dangerous pops up?”

“This is not up to debate.” Oliver stated, putting an end to the argument before it could even begin.

  


Oliver couldn’t deny he felt nervous. This enemy was different to those he had fought before. It was a metahuman, sure, he had fought those before and won. But this, somehow, felt different. His gut was telling him something was off.

He parked his bike near the alley, taking the device and handing it to Diggle. They decided it would be best if the archer had his weapons ready all the time, so Diggle would use the detector instead.  With this monster loose, neither of them wanted to take chances.

Oliver couldn’t see the bodyguard’s eyes because of the helmet, so he wasn’t sure if Diggle was afraid or not.

It was a dark night, the moon almost completely hidden behind clouds. At this part of the Glades the lighting was terrible, only one out of three street lights working, one of which they were standing under. But even these flickered in and out, making the whole situation even more  ominous.

Every muscle in Oliver’s body was tense in anticipation. He was ready for whatever came next.

He nodded at Diggle, who turned on the detector.

It beeped three times, a nd a red light started blinking in and out slowly on its side.  According to Cisco, the closer they were to the thing, the faster the device would beep, same thing applying to the light on its side.

Diggle pointed the  detector at the alley. Immediately it started beeping like crazy, red light blinking faster and faster.

Oliver immediately got his arrow ready, his eyes searching for any threat. But none appeared yet.

They slowly entered the alley, but as they moved forward, the b e eping didn’t change, it was the same fast paced sound. Even when they arrived at the scene where they had found the body, the beeping was the same.

Diggle, slowly moved the device, pointing it in another direction.

The beeping continued the same.

The bodyguard walked around, Oliver always next to him, bow drawn. But no matter where they went, where the device was pointed, the red light’s blinking remained the same.

“What is going on?” Oliver asked, turning around, unsure where to point his weapon.

“I am not actually sure.” Cisco answered. “It went crazy as soon as you left the lamp, and the readings haven’t changed since. Its actually signaling that the thing is right in front of you.”

“Maybe it doesn’t just travel in the shadows?” Curtis offered, speculating. “Maybe it becomes the shadows. That would make it impossible to find the meta until it leaves them.”

“No, then it wouldn’t affect the device,” Cisco argued. “its vibration wouldn’t show if it was in every shadow in the world.”

“Doesn’t have to be in every one of them. Only in a wide enough area. But we don’t know how strong it is, its range could be just an alley, or a city block, maybe three, or maybe even the whole Glades.” Curtis answered.

“That would be terrifying.” It could be heard on Cisco’s voice as he shivered. “Guys, you can come back now. It seems we have an undetectable monster meta on the loose, that actually lives in the dark. I am so sleeping with lamps tonight.”

Oliver furrowed his eyebrows. This couldn’t be it. There must be something they could do. 

He kept pointing his arrow at the shadows, unable to relax. An invisible enemy, everywhere and anywhere. How was he supposed to protect his city from something like that?

“Come on Oliver” Diggle put a hand on his arm. “Let’s go back.”

“Let’s look around a bit more.” He argued. “Let’s see if we can determine how long its range is.”

Its range was big. Big enough for Oliver to give up an hour later, making the call of going back to the Bunker. He wasn’t happy about it, but it was obvious that trying to find the meta this way was useless.

  


Oliver was extra tired next day, making him snappy and easily angered. It must have been obvious as Thea appeared not long after lunchbreak, a half amused, half worried expression on her face.

“You scared the hell out of Malcolm Caldwell” she noted, putting a bunch of papers in front of him.

“Well, his arguments were getting on my nerves.” Oliver answered. “He agreed in the end.”

“And now he is terrified of you. It’s kind of hilarious actually, but also worrying. You can’t go around and scare everyone you don’t like.”

Oliver stared at her.

“Okay, night job doesn’t count.” Thea added. “Ollie, is everything alright? Did something happen?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.” Oliver assured her. 

“You know you can always talk to me?” She smiled at him. “I may not be in your team anymore, but I’ll always be your sister.”

“I know. Thanks Speedy.” Oliver smiled at her, even if it was a bit forced. 

“Oh, and you didn’t forget about the fundraising gala tomorrow right?”

“Of course not.” Oliver lied. He absolutely forgot. But at least he asked Daisy, so he had a plus one, and speaking of whom, he needed to talk to her about tomorrow.

He looked at Thea help l essly. “ But if I did, don’t you accidentally happen to know where I can find Daisy right now?”

Going by her expression, Thea probably wasn’t sure whether she should laugh or bang her head against a wall. “Actually, I do, but Lance and his bodyguard should be paying you a visit soon. Which you would know if you bothered to check you calendar once in a while, Ollie.”

Right. Another thing  he forgot. Great, just great. Well, at least he didn’t have to go far to talk to Daisy. “Thanks Thea.” He answered, deciding to ignore the playful jab.

His sister wasn’t wrong, ten minutes later Lance did walk into his office, bringing more paperwork with him. Also, Oliver would have preferred to talk to Daisy without Lance around, but that was a necessary annoyance.

“So, tomorrow still stands?” He asked her, opting to ignore Lance’s painful ‘Oh jesus.’ in the background.

“Well, that depends on you Mr. Mayor.” Daisy answered, smiling at him.

“Then I’ll pick you up at seven. Where exactly do you live?” He asked. His heart was beating faster than usual, and on some level, that annoyed him. He didn’t want to fall for someone again, it never lead to anything good. But looking into those brown eyes he wasn’t sure if he could stop it even if he wanted to. And problem is, he didn’t want to.

“I’ll text you the address.” The brunette offered, her eyes not leaving Oliver’s.

“You don’t actually know my phone number.” The archer decided to point out.

Daisy’s smile grew bigger now, and there was a playful spark in her eyes. “Don’t I?” With that, she and Lance left the office, leaving Oliver standing there, confused.

His phone beeped.

It was a message from an unknown number.

**I think I do** . - It read.


	11. Shaken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow it has been so freakin long and I am so sorry. I have all sort of excuses, college and personal life as well, but all I really wanna say is that although I can’t promise to be permanently back (Sometimes I feel like I’m not going through college but college is going through me) I’ll try my best to update once again because I did like writing this fanfic.
> 
> Oh and just in case you forgot what had happened so far: Daisy got teleported into the Arrowverse, became a bodyguard in the mayor's office, and helps team Arrow with the alias Skye. Also There is Ian Quinn who tried to assassinate Oliver, and some freak monster who keeps killing in the Glades. Barry is also in the city because CCPD send him as a metahuman murder expert.

Daisy stared at herself in the mirror, feeling so foreign in her own body. She wasn’t sure when was the last time she had worn anything akin to a dress, and now here she was, going out on a date with a civilian, out of all things.

Lately, all her life was fighting and trying to survive, trying to be good, to do good. And after Lincoln, she didn’t think she could ever try dating again. It still hurt too much, the pain raw in her chest every time she opened her eyes from the nightmares that plagued her more often than not.

They say wounds heal with time, but Daisy wasn’t sure anymore. She wished she could forget all the pain, but she couldn’t, and it simply didn’t get better.

And yet, somehow, this felt okay. Maybe it was because she was in another universe. The whole situation felt so unreal, like when you are in a dream, and no matter what you do, it simply doesn’t affect the real world.

Or maybe it was something about Oliver. Something that Daisy saw in his eyes, possibly connected to all the loss and bad things he has suffered. Or maybe, it was something else entirely. But there was _something_ about him that made her feel less lonely.

She checked her phone again. She redirected the messages from Team Arrow to it, so she could carry it with her, and still answer. It was a risk, because if their hacker tried to find her, right now they could make way too many steps before she could react. But it was a risk Daisy was willing to make, even though she wasn’t sure what she would do if she was needed while at the gala.

She looked at her reflection again, trying to ignore how unfamiliar she looked in a dress, looking so vulnerable, so innocent. But she could feel the gun strapped on her thigh, reminding her that was not the case. And even without a weapon, she was anything but vulnerable.

Her hair was longer now, but still nowhere near as long as it was before, when she last wore a dress. Before this whole inhuman debacle. It was at Ian Quinn’s party, years ago, but Daisy remembered it like it had happened yesterday.

Her dress was similar to that pink dress too, but she went with a much darker color scheme. Those bright colors just didn’t seem to fit her anymore, nor her mood.

The doorbell rang.

Daisy took one last look at herself, satisfied with what she was seeing, then went to open the door.

Oliver was looking impeccable as always, one of his rare smiles appearing on his face when he saw her. It seemed honest enough, reaching his eyes, even if only barely.

“Hi,” Daisy greeted him with a smile, “you are early.”

“Diggle drove me here because apparently, the mayor can’t appear with a motorcycle.” He said, lifting one eyebrow like he was honestly baffled, and smiled. He then looked at Daisy more closely. She could feel his gaze and thanked the heavens for all the agent lessons from May, without them, she sure as hell would have fidgeted. “You look beautiful tonight” Oliver added, and Daisy suddenly understood why so many girls would fall for Oliver Queen whe he was still in his playboy phase. Hell, probably even now. His eyes were intense, and his tone was just right: he complimented her without making her feel uncomfortable. He was a born charmer.

“Well, you don’t look to bad yourself.” Daisy offered with a flirtatious smile. “Wanna come in?  I’ll be ready in a minute.”

She stepped aside, allowing Oliver into the house, who looked around with mild interest. He was wearing the same look on his face that May does when she is analyzing a potentially dangerous situation.

Suddenly, Daisy regretted not hiding her laptop. She wasn’t sure how much Oliver knew about computers, and hers looked very high tech, enough to stand out from the rest of the apartment. Well, she could always hope that Oliver didn’t know enough about technology, he did spend five years on an island after all.

No such luck. She saw as his eyes stopped, face not giving away anything besides arching an eyebrow. “Didn’t take you for a techie.” He said, nodding at the laptop. The ‘Or a billionaire’ part wasn’t added, but Daisy knew he thought it.

“Got it from a friend.” Not even a lie. “He is quite a genius. Built it himself.”

Thankfully, Oliver seemed to let the question go, his eyes analyzing the rest of the room now, taking in every nook and cranny. At least the money wasn’t there anymore. Oliver would have probably thought she robbed a bank or something. “Nice place.” He said in the end.

“Thank you. You can sit down if you want, I’ll be back in a moment.”

She entered the bedroom, getting out of Oliver’s eyesight. She checked one last time that her weapon was strapped to her thigh right, and got her purse that she left on the bed previously.

“Alright, ready to go now.” Daisy stepped out of the bedroom. Oliver was standing in front of the picture that Daisy put on the table a day before. She found it on her phone a few days back, and immediately went and had it printed out so she could have it framed.

“It’s a nice picture. Your friends?” He asked.

“They are more like a family to me.” Daisy admitted, stepping next to him, looking at the picture.

She wasn’t sure when it was taken, but Lincoln was still alive then. They were all sitting on the couch, while Daisy and Mack were playing a video game, with the team all around them. Lincoln had his arms around Daisy, looking curiously at the others. Jemma was sitting between Daisy and Mack, looking behind her and arguing with Coulson about something, who was standing behind the couch, pointing at his robotic hand. May was standing next to Coulson, her arms folded, looking seriously at the camera, being the only one who noticed someone was taking a photograph.

That someone was Fitz, his face taking up quarter of the picture as he smiled into the camera while taking the selfie with the team.

Daisy was very grateful that Fitz uploaded that on the phone. It reminded her of home, and even though it also made her heart ache with longing, it was also calming. Being in another universe, where nothing that happened in hers is real can make one feel lost and possibly wondering what is real and what isn’t. But the picture was proof. She had a family. A home. And it was waiting for her.

“They seem nice.” Oliver said finally.

“They are.” Daisy assured him. “I had to leave them behind on a moment’s notice. Couldn’t even say goodbye properly.”

Oliver looked at her with understanding, but didn’t ask what happened, didn’t push for answers. Daisy was glad about that, since she wasn’t sure what she could have said to him if he did.

“Maybe I’ll tell you about them someday.” Daisy smiled.

“I’d like that.” He said sincerely. Then he pointed at the picture. “Is he your..?”

“No.” It was a logical question, since the story made it seem like she just left them behind. “He was. But he died some time ago. To save me.”

Blue eyes found Daisy’s, filled with compassion. She suddenly remembered what she had read about Oliver Queen, about the losses he has suffered. He knew what it felt like. He knew exactly.

It wasn’t pity in his eyes, but deep, deep sadness that came with understanding. “I’m sorry,” he said, and again, he didn’t ask.

Daisy only realized it now, how close they were, his eyes boring into hers. She could almost smell him, as he leaned closer, his intention obvious. Daisy found she couldn’t resist him, didn’t want to, lost in the heat of the moment.

But it was interrupted when there was a knock on the door. “Oliver, we need to go if you don’t want to be late.” Diggle said, putting a stop to the moment and reminding them of the reality.

Daisy pursed her lips, and stepped back. “Right. We should go.”

Oliver nodded, his eyes once again unreadable.

 

The limousine ride was more or less eventless, although Daisy couldn’t say she didn’t enjoy it. The last time she sat in a car, the car was literally on fire, so the calamity that came with limousines was very welcome.

Not that the flaming car wasn’t fun, but it would be very inconvenient when one was trying to get to a charity gala with said car.

It would make hell of an entrance though. Hell of an entrance.

“So, on a chart from one to ten, how likely is it that they will try to kill you on the gala?” Daisy asked jokingly, hoping to start a conversation.

Oliver smiled. “Around three. It’s much more likely they will just try to take me hostage or take someone _else_ hostage and try to make demands.” He joked, and Daisy would have lied if that lighthearted tone didn’t make her own heart beat just a little bit faster.

“Well,” she winked “good thing your date is also a bodyguard then.”

Oliver chuckled then just a bit. “Not that I doubt your skills, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that though.”

Daisy smiled and leaned back in her seat, her eyes finding Oliver’s. For a moment, she debated whether to ask or not, afraid of ruining the moment. But in the end, her curiosity won.

“So, what makes a former playboy with a hint of Robinson Crusoe in him want to fight for this city so much?” She looked outside, her eyes zoning in on the city passing by.

The answer didn’t arrive immediately, and for a moment Daisy started cursing herself that maybe she made a mistake there. But when she looked back at Oliver, there was only warmth in his eyes.

“A promise.” He said finally with half a smile. “And it’s not the city. It’s the people in it.”

Daisy wanted to ask, she really did, but something in Oliver’s eyes told her that she shouldn’t question any further.

“But how about you? Not many people move into Star City nowadays, yet here you are.”

“What can I say? Most people run from danger. I run towards it.” She knew she was deflecting but it seemed like the best option at the moment.

“You are running from something.” It was a statement, not a question.

Daisy tried to read Oliver then. Was he suspicious of her? Did she do something that gave her away?

She half expected to find nothing, but this time, Oliver wasn’t unreadable. He had the look of someone who knew exactly what he was talking about because he had been there.

“Takes one to know one.” She answered carefully.

They stared into each other’s eyes waiting for the other to give, but neither did.

And that was when they arrived at the charity gala.

 

Oliver knew he should be alarmed, suspicious maybe, or at least vary. But he wasn’t. Daisy was hiding something, yes, that was for sure, but he couldn’t help but feel like it didn’t matter. Because the instincts that usually made him want to distrust people, the ones that urged him to keep everyone at arm’s length? They were telling him that there was no danger here.

And when he entered the room with Daisy on his side, he couldn’t help the feeling of happiness. Like something was very right here.

So he ignored all the alarm bells in his head, all the logical thoughts that were screaming at him from the back of his mind, and allowed himself to hope that this time, everything would turn out alright.

Mostly, the evening was spent with making good with politicians and the big figures of the city. Oliver was good at this; he knew he was. Before the island, he had been even better, but he could still charm people when he wanted to. And as a politician he needed that skill more and more.

What surprised him was that Daisy did the same. She joked with people, carefully maneuvering them right into Oliver’s grasp, where he could say exactly what was needed to make people agreeable and more generous.

It was almost like she read people with so much precision she knew exactly how to make them do what she wanted.

They made a good team.

And then, something just had to happen to ruin everything.

“Well, if it isn’t the mayor himself.” Somebody said behind him, and Oliver knew that voice, and hated that voice. He felt Daisy stiffening beside him.

“Ian Quinn.” He said, turning around with a dark expression. “I would have thought you were rotting in prison by now.”

“Well, what can I say, you have your connections, I have mine.” The man was walking towards them, a bodyguard on each side. He was smiling slyly, striding up to him in his impeccable suit. “I have to say, this looks good.” He made a grand gesture of turning completely around. “So sweet of you to raise money for all these causes in the city, you know.” His eyes bore into Oliver’s. “I wish you stopped there instead of meddling in MY business.” He held out his hand for a handshake.

“What can I say?” Oliver took it, and gripped it strongly enough to make the man wince. “Cleaning up the trash is a priority too.”

He expected Quinn to be angry, or maybe intimidated. But he kept smiling, staring into Oliver’s eyes without blinking. “About that. Keep doing that, and I promise you, you are going to regret it.”

“Mr. Quinn, I have to say, it IS such a GREAT pleasure to meet you.” Daisy interrupted the staring contest. Oliver looked at her with surprise, but her face showed nothing but naïve honesty, as she held out her hand.

Quinn looked at her with alike surprise, then smiled, and instead of shaking her hand, he kissed it with elegance. Oliver couldn’t help the tick in his hand that appeared whenever he wished he had his bow. And oh man, did he wish for a bow now.

“And who would you be?” He asked politely.

“Just the bodyguard who stopped your attempted assassination on the mayor here,” she looked at him with a smile, “and shot quite a few of your men. But you can call me Daisy.” Oliver found himself chuckling a bit, while Ian Quinn gaped at her for a brief moment, the smile falling off his face. “So I would advise you to behave because I am just _itching_ to beat you up.” She added, still smiling, but with a darkness in her eyes that Oliver knew too well.

Ian Quinn actually stepped back at that. “Is that so?” He asked, the smile quickly back on his face, but this time, it seemed forced. “Let me give you both a piece of advice. Be careful who you piss off. Because, if you continue going after me _Mr. mayor_ , I assure you, nobody will be able to protect you. Not your little girlfriend, and not the vigilante you all seem to love and depend on. Let’s go gentlemen.” He turned around and headed towards the exit.

Oliver stared after him, partly angry, partly impressed. He wasn’t intimidated in the slightest, the exact opposite actually. Ian Quinn needed to go. And if prison couldn’t hold him (Oliver should have expected that to be honest) then it was time for the Arrow to show him his place. And with much less mercy than last time.

He turned towards Daisy, but Quentin chose that moment to step up to them.

“Mr. Lance.” She greeted him politely.

“Daisy, Oliver. Good to see you. I just got the call. Quinn is out.”

“We know.” Oliver assured him. “He was here.”

“He was?” The ex-detective looked startled, and looked both of them up and down. “Are you both alright?”

Oliver just shot him a look, and briefly registered that Daisy did the exact same thing.

Quentin smiled a bit at that. “Right. Sorry, I forgot.”

Oliver knew what he meant, and immediately deflected. “Yes, Daisy here handled him like a pro. He ran like a frightened kid, you really should have seen it.”

He looked at the woman next to him, and felt himself smile. She really was beautiful tonight.

“Well, have to say your savage comments helped too.” She added, brown eyes looking into his.

“Oookay then, I’m just gonna, uhm, go now.” Oliver heard Quentin say, but ignored him completely, and so did Daisy. Oliver felt being drawn closer and closer to her, feeling himself getting lost in her brown eyes.

The alarm in his head were screaming now, but he ignored them completely.

He cupped her face and leaned close. She did the same, closing her eyes.

When his lips touched hers, everything seemed to fade away. It was a completely different feeling than anything before, like the world ceased to exist, and it was just the two of them there.

And there were fireworks too. So weird.

Suddenly, he the moment was interrupted by the strangest thing. He felt the ground shake under him, and they broke away at the same time, his eyes finding hers. While he was surprised, she seemed… scared? Oliver tore his eyes away, and looked around, finally registering what was happening, but the shaking stopped as quickly as it stared.

Everyone else seemed just as surprised as him, whispering amongst themselves. And Oliver immediately understood the reason for that, and leapt into action. “Everyone calm down; it was nothing but a minor earthquake. They happen. Absolutely normal,” He said loud enough to garner everyone’s attention. “I promise you, it was just that; a natural earthquake. Nothing more.”

People seemed to calm down at that, getting back to whatever they were doing before. Satisfied with the results, Oliver turned around, looking for Daisy, still feeling her lips on his.

But she was nowhere to be found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that just happened.  
> So, yeah, this chapter is everything but perfect, but in my defense, writing is definitely not like riding a bicycle. Wow, I found myself struggling to find phrases and looking for words that I used to know more often than not, and the grammar, man did I forget the little grammar I used to know.  
> So, uhm, tell me your thoughts, and stuff.


	12. You have no control (who lives, who dies)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this update was fast (sort of, depends on how you define fast, because obviously, it wasn’t uploaded in a flash) but unfortunately, this was an exception.  
> Thank you for all the comments, I know I don't answer, but that isn't because I don't read them, I'm just socially awkward and never know what to reply.  
> Also, I've received questions about the SHIELD team, so I'll assure you all that team Arrow will meet them. In the far future, but they will meet.
> 
> I’m not American, so I’m not sure when you should put these warnings out there, so I’ll just be absolutely safe here and say:  
> Trigger warning for something akin to a panic attack.   
> Also, mentions of a rape threat but it’s tiny.

Daisy put her head into her hands. She was back in her apartment, sitting in one of the chairs at the table, her bag lying beside her. But to be honest, she had no idea how she got here, or when.  Her memories were jumbled up, and she could barely think straight.

She remembered kissing Oliver, and feeling like… like…

And then, she remembered the earthquake. That she caused.

She remembered Oliver’s eyes on hers, with fear in them.

She remembered leaving the gala in a rush. After that, it was blank. The next thing she knew was that she was here, in a chair, staring ahead being unable to breath, think, or move while feeling like the last of her world was crumbling to dust. Her carefully crafted house of cards was tumbling down right in front of her.

Daisy couldn’t believe that she had lost control like that. Nothing like this has happened since… Since Afterlife. Not on this scale at least. She had lost control, put people in danger, put Oliver in danger.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Her powers needed to be in check. She had lost everything: first, she lost Lincoln, then she lost her family and her home, and now she was losing herself too?

This couldn’t happen. Just couldn’t. Her powers… They were the last thing left that were truly hers.

No.

Her powers were HER. So if she didn’t have that, what did she have?

Not a family. Not a home.

Her hands were shaking now, and her thoughts were getting more and more aggressive. She should be stronger than this, she needed to be stronger than this, her team was counting on her.

But she didn’t have a team anymore, did she? She was all alone.

Her tears were welling up in her eyes, but she didn’t let a single tear drop from them.

She was not this weak. She wasn’t weak. She was… SHE WAS STRONG.

Suddenly, all the fear, all the desperation, all the feelings she had been bottling up came to the surface, washing away the sadness and igniting a kind of anger in her, and it was like nothing she had ever experienced before.

She saw red, and just snapped. First, she aimed at the vase on the kitchen counter, not even hesitating as she blasted it with her powers. It shattered into a million pieces, ending up all over her kitchen. She didn’t care about that either.

A chair followed suit, then another, and then another vase. Nothing escaped her wrath. Not the lamp, not the glass on the counter, not the unopened bottle of Gin she got form her next door neighbour as a welcome gift.

Not even the picture.

In just moments, the whole apartment was in ruins, and Daisy was standing in the middle, shaking and breathing hard. She turned around, aiming at the laptop.

 And that was when she realized what she was doing.

She looked around, taking in the destroyed state of her apartment. “Oh my god.” She breathed, leaning down and picking up the picture from the ground, ignoring the broken glass falling off from it.

She stared at it, for a long time, her panic induced rage fading away, leaving her alone with nothing but desperation and sadness. Slowly, she fell on her knees, tears slowly streaming down her face and dripping on the picture.

“Why aren’t you here?” She asked it, as if a picture could answer. “I need you.”

She sniffed.

“Why did you abandon me?”

The picture fell from her hand. She curled up in a ball and buried her head in her knees, quietly sobbing and feeling more alone than ever before. She didn’t feel like this when she was in the orphanage. She didn’t feel like this when the families that took her in took her back to that place.

She didn’t feel like this when she was a hacker, alone against the world, hiding in a van with nothing but a laptop.

She didn’t feel like this when Ward betrayed them. Not even when her mother died.

Not when Lincoln died.

So why, why did it hurt so much now?

She had nothing now. She _was_ nothing now.

She wasn’t a hacker of Rising tide.

She wasn’t an agent of SHIELD.

Even as an inhuman, she was all alone here.

And she had never been more terrified in her life.

 

Oliver knocked on the door, but no one answered. He tried again, a bit more loudly this time. When there was no reaction, he tried the doorknob.

The door opened without resistance. Oliver felt his heart speed up a bit as he entered. But nothing could have prepared him for what he found inside.

The whole place was in ruins, it kind of looked like a bomb had been set off in the living room. Everything that was moveable was on the ground, sometimes in pieces, sometimes just very far from its intended place. He entered quickly, reaching for the gun behind his belt, but then he noticed Daisy sitting in the middle, curled up on herself and quietly sobbing. The picture he had seen earlier lying by her side.

He stood there for a few moments, absolutely and totally unsure what to do. Then, making a decision, he let go of the gun and kneeled next to Daisy.

“Hey.” He said softly, careful not to touch her, not wanting to startle the already freaking out woman.

She ignored him completely, so he tried again. “Daisy? It’s me, Oliver. You left the gala so I was worried.”

She looked up at him, her brown eyes filled with sorrow. She didn’t say anything, but Oliver felt a bit more confident now, so he slowly cupped her face. “What’s wrong?” He asked softly. “What happened?”

“I wanna go back.” She said silently. “They left me. They all…” She sobbed. “They all leave.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Oliver carefully drawn her into his lap, letting her snuggle up to him. “I’m here for you. And I’m not leaving.”

“You don’t even know me.” She muttered. “You don’t know anything about me. Wherever I go, death follows. You don’t know the things I have done, the things that happened because of… because of me.”

“We have all done things we regret.” Oliver assured her, unsure what could have brought this on.

She didn’t say anything to that, and Oliver wasn’t sure if he should talk or not, so he decided to just stay silent and hold her, wrecking his mind what could have happened that made Daisy, confident, smiling, sarcastic Daisy to be in such a terrible state.

“I feel like I’m… I’m losing myself.” She admitted suddenly, not looking up, face hidden in his neck. “Piece by piece I’ve been losing everything, and now, even myself.”

Oliver knew that feeling. When you are losing your grip so much it feels like the world is burning around you and you can’t do anything about it, just stand there and watch as it all burns.

“What brought this on?” He asked finally. “I’m pretty sure I don’t kiss _that bad_.”

That made Daisy chuckle a bit. “It wasn’t you, pretty boy.” She assured him. “I can’t talk about it right now. It’s just… something I thought I had control of. Well it turned out I had no control over it after all.”

“I’m sorry.” Oliver offered. “If it’s any consolation, to me it always seemed like you were very much in control.”

“That’s kind of my job.” She said, and Oliver smiled, unconsciously drawing her closer to himself.

They sat in silence for a bit, Oliver listening to Daisy’s breathing, and feeling her heartbeat against his chest. His eyes looked over the apartment once again, and suddenly, he was a bit impressed.

“I love what you’ve done with the place.” He said jokingly, feeling Daisy chuckle against him. “I didn’t want to say it earlier, but it seemed too neat before anyway.”

“Stop.” Daisy said, hitting him in the chest without any real force, smiling.

So the silence stretched on. After a while Oliver was beginning to think she fell sleep, but then she spoke up, all humor gone from her voice.

“Lincoln told me he loved me right before he died. In my place.”

There was heavy implication and a lot of self-blame in that sentence.

“And you feel like you are betraying him.” Oliver finished it for her, nodding.

“shouldn’t I?” She asked, more from herself than from him. Then, she sniffed, and tried to push herself away from him. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be dropping this on you.”

Oliver pulled her back. “The first girl I loved… She died in front of me, after admitting she still loved me. Even though I have done so many terrible things to her, she still loved me. And I couldn’t even protect her.” If Oliver was shaking a bit, Daisy didn’t mention it. “You asked why I was willing to fight for this city. Well, when the Queen’s gambit… The yacht I was traveling on went down, me and my father both made it to a life raft. Then he asked me to right his wrongs, and shot himself in the head so I had enough food and water to make it to the closest island. He died for me.”

Daisy snuggled closer to him. “It took me 26 years to find my family. Then, my mother tried to kill me so my father killed her instead.”

Oliver’s head sagged against Daisy’s. No wonder he felt so connected to her. They shared so much grief.

“The guy I had a crush on before Lincoln,” Daisy clenched his shirt, “He turned out to be a psychopath and tried to kill my team… my family. He almost succeeded, hurt Fitz so much he suffered brain damage. I trusted him completely before. He taught me a lot of the things I know now.” She sighed. “He threatened to rape me and followed me around for a year.”

Oliver felt the anger rise in him, his hand ticking, wishing for his bow.

“He is dead.” She added.

“Shame. I would have enjoyed killing him myself.” He muttered.

“Your turn.” Daisy reminded him.

Oliver thought for a moment. “The beautiful, kind woman named Shado, who helped me survive the island, died because a psychopath made me choose who to save. Her or Sara. I chose Sara.” It happened so many years ago. Why was his grief so real still? “A friend who was also on the island never forgave me for that. Betrayed me, tortured me and tried to kill me.” He stopped for a moment, closing his eyes. “I thought of him as my brother. Would have died for him. He ended up killing my mother in front of me.”

Daisy looked up at him, and this time, her eyes were filled with sympathy. She didn’t think any less of him. There wasn’t an ounce of pity in her eyes. Just understanding. “It wasn’t your fault.” She said with so much conviction, Oliver almost believed her.

“A good and close friend of mine died because I made a mistake. Went to a place I shouldn’t have, and he paid the price. He was called Trip.”

Oliver adjusted his hold on Daisy so he could look into her eyes.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered.

“It was years ago. But it still hurts.” She added, fresh tears appearing in her eyes.

Oliver nodded, his forehead touching hers.

“My best friend since childhood died because of an earthquake that my mother had a hand in and I failed to stop.”

Daisy flinched and pulled away, staring at him in horror. “In an earthquake?” she asked, and if she was shook up before, she looked downright horrified now.

Oliver looked at her confused. Then, he remembered that there was a small earthquake today too. And Daisy ran away right after. Like she was…

 “That was a long time ago.” He assured her. “Did something happen to you? Because of an earthquake?”

Daisy sagged back against Oliver, hiding her face in his neck.

“We could say that.” She answered so silently he barely heard her. “We could say that.”

They were both silent after that. After a while, he felt Daisy falling asleep.

He lifted her up, careful not to jostle her, and took her to her bedroom. He put her on the bed with special care, his eyes lingering on her for a moment before preparing to leave. But before he could do so, a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.

He looked back to see sleepy brown eyes blinking at him.

“Stay?” She asked, drawing him closer.

So, Oliver stayed.

 

Daisy woke up with fudgy memories and a lot calmer than she had felt in days, no, scratch that, months. She stretched and looked around, trying to piece together what had happened the day before.

Her heart skipped the beat as she remembered back, and she scrambled out of bed.

She was still wearing the dress from yesterday, so at least she was sure what _didn’t_ happen. But damn, did she really share so much with a relative stranger? Even if that stranger was incredibly handsome and didn’t seem like a stranger at all?

Especially after last night.

Damn it.

She opened the bedroom door to find her apartment…

All cleaned up. Everything that was still in one piece was back in its place, and everything else was simply… gone?

Daisy blinked, then blinked again. If it wasn’t for the fact that almost all vases were missing she would have thought she went crazy.

Then she smelled it. Was that scrambled eggs? Not that she was complaining, because it smelt good, but…

She moved out of the door so she could see the kitchen completely, and yes, Oliver Queen was standing there with his sleeves rolled up making scrambled eggs in her kitchen.

She rubbed her eyes and pinched herself.

Nope, awake. But then…

“Good morning.” He said, without looking up. “I cleaned up your apartment, I hope you don’t mind. Also” he looked up, his eyes friendly and comforting, but also searching. “I made breakfast.”

“You are too good to be real” she muttered. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“Nope.” He put the eggs on a plate and put it on the table. “But I wanted to. You looked like you needed some care.”

Daisy nodded, still too shocked to react properly, so she just sat down at the table. She could only imagine the dumbstruck look on her face.

“I’m so sorry, for everything that I just dropped on you.” She said in the end, not looking at him.

“It’s okay. I’m honored you trusted me enough to share all that with me.”

His voice was so sincere, so kind, Daisy couldn’t help but look up, her eyes meeting his.

Yep, she was hopelessly, desperately, in love. With a guy she barely knows. Damn.

“Same for you then.” She said with a small smile. “Also, we should totally make a club,” she joked. “We could call it the ‘How the hell are we still functioning’ club.”

Oliver chuckled. Satisfied with that reaction, Daisy grabbed the fork and took a bite from the breakfast.

“Wow.” She looked up, eyes wide. “This is, like, the best thing I have ever eaten.  Where have you been all my life?”

“Well, I’m here now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s all folks. (For now.)  
> So, what do you think? I am incredibly insecure about this chapter to be honest. I tried my best to capture the emotions, but it’s god damn hard, especially since Oliver is not exactly the emotional type, and Daisy is not the snuggling type. So if they seemed OOC, then sorry but I tried, I really did. And to me it actually made sense for Daisy to break down like that. Like she had been dropped into a new world, while still not being over Lincoln’s death (nor Lash’s sacrifice, or what she did to Mack.) So now that the last of her control was slipping away, it seemed logical for her to just lose it. But if you think otherwise, feel free to tell me, even bad critics are better than no critics.   
> Fun fact: I didn’t actually plan for Oliver to appear, but he just did. These goddamn characters are taking over my story :D


	13. I blinked (and you were gone)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ladies and gentlemen: Take off your logic glasses and throw away your expectations, because here is another chapter for my favourite readers.

**Night of the charity gala**

Diggle was standing in the doorway, intent on making sure the place secure, when Oliver appeared in front of him out of the blue. Now Diggle may have been an army veteran, but Oliver appearing like that always made him jump a bit. Freaking ninja skills man.

“Dig!” The archer seemed disturbed, and that rarely happened with Oliver. He was always composed, never showing his emotions. It took Diggle years to learn how to read him, and he guessed the archer was still hiding more than he let on.

Then he remembered the small earthquake earlier. What if Oliver was affected by it mentally? His own heart skipped a beat when he felt the ground move under him, and he didn’t lose his best friend in one, unlike Oliver.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, preparing for the worst.

“Ian Quinn is not in prison anymore.” Oliver answered, his eyes nervously flicking through the crowd. That answer partly made Diggle feel relieved, but partly made him feel even more disturbed. “And he just told me that if I didn’t stop going after him, I would regret it.”

Diggle frowned, and nodded, his phone already in his hand. “He was here? I didn’t see him enter. What do you mean he isn’t in prison?” He asked.

The archer shook his head. “Well he is rich, influential, and smart. We should have expected this.” Diggle noted that Oliver’s hand ticked like it always did when he wished he had his bow. “I suspected he had a back up plan, but I thought it would take longer. I guess there are far more dirty people in the city than I had thought.”

“Meet in the bunker then?” Diggle offered, already texting the team. “We need to make a plan.”

“I can’t.”

The bodyguard took a double take at that answer. Oliver never said that. “You… can’t?” He repeated, just in case he heard it wrong.

“No, I, uh…” Oliver was doing that thing again where he looked through the crowd nervously, like he was searching for someone. “I have something else to do.”

“Something else?” Diggle felt his eyebrows shooting up. “Oliver, Ian Quinn is out of prison, and he just threatened you, and you say you have something else to do?”

“I’m worried about Daisy. She just disappeared. I’m gonna go and see if she is alright.”

Diggle’s frown deepened. “Oliver,” he said, making eye contact “don’t you think your priorities are in the wrong order? Ian Quinn has tried to kill you before.” He did notice the brunette wasn’t on Oliver’s side, but thought nothing of it before now.

“Which is exactly why I’m worried about Daisy.” The archer assured him, his face giving nothing away. He had a stupidly good poker face, and Diggle found himself hating it once again. “You assemble the team, go to the bunker, maybe try to get in contact with Skye. Actually, no, don’t do that, she already hacked him once and it didn’t work. Leave her out of this for now. But we need a game plan.” Oliver looked around, making sure no one heard them, before looking back at him. “Ian Quinn is clever, but if he feels we are threatening him, he will make a move sooner rather than later. I don’t think him warning me today is a coincidence. The law that will force him out of the black market will be passed tomorrow morning.”

Diggle nodded. “But what do you want us to do?”

 “Make a plan, John.” Oliver had the ghost of a smile on his face. “I can’t do anything anyway, because I will be targeted as the mayor not as the vigilante. You only have to protect me tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“Because tomorrow night, I am _taking him down_.”

And with that, Oliver was gone.

 

When Diggle entered the arrow cave, everyone else was already there. Well, mostly everyone. Felicity… she wasn’t.

 Curtis was building something, Dinah was practicing on a training dummy, and Rene was cleaning a gun. When Diggle entered, they all looked up, stopped what they were doing in perfect sync, and started off towards him.

“Hoss, what’s with the SOS?” Rene questioned, putting away the gun he was cleaning.

Diggle made a face. it would have been better if Oliver was here. “Ian Quinn is out of prison.” He stated coldly.

The recruits looked between each other, with a brief moment of alarm appearing on all of their faces. “What… Is everyone alright?” Curtis looked over Diggle’s shoulder, like he was hiding someone behind him, but it was Dinah who voiced his question.

“Where is Oliver?” she asked, a small frown appearing on her face.

“He is fine. Just couldn’t make it,” Diggle answered, barely hiding his annoyance, “but he told me he wanted us to come up with a plan.”

“To take down Quinn?”

“No. Oliver thinks Quinn is going to attempt something tomorrow. He wants us to stop him.”

“Yes! Operation protect the mayor is on!” Curtis said with way too much enthusiasm.

Diggle smiled a bit. “We are not calling it that. But yes. Time to make a plan to protect Oliver.”

 

 

Quentin rubbed his forehead, silently murmuring curses under his breath. Quinn was a pain in the ass, and even worse than that, he was untouchable. Judging by the circumstances of his release, he had way too many people on his payroll. Police officers, lawyers, maybe judges too.

And now, Oliver was in danger. Team Arrow was low-key hanging around the mayor’s office all day as far as Quentin knew, and his bodyguard (which he doesn’t need, thank you very much) kept nervously looking at the door again and again too, no doubt worrying about the same thing.

Not that Quentin could blame her. She was stuck here, protecting him, while her probably boyfriend was in danger.

“Okay, that’s it.” Quentin stood up, grabbing the stack of paper in front of him. “I’m taking these to the mayor’s office.” Normally, he would finish all before taking it to Oliver, but this girl was running him up the wall with her obvious worry.

Her eyes flickered to him, and Quentin could pinpoint the moment she realized what he was doing, and shame flooded her features.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Lance. I didn’t mean unprofessional.” She said, and suddenly, all emotion disappeared from her face.

“No, don’ t, don’t do that.” Quentin shook his head. “Look, I can’t blame you for worrying, I’m worried too. But trust me when I say: he has the best people watching him.” And that, at least, was something he was sure of.

She nodded, but didn’t seem any more relaxed.

Yep, a visit to the mayor’s office was in order, even if just to make this kid feel better. When Quentin became a good Samaritan, he didn’t know, but apparently, this was his life now.

Well, at least the Vigilante team did keep to the plan. They were all in Oliver’s office, with Thea in tow (Although she was only there momentarily as far as Quentin knew the plan. She had a job to do, after all, which allowed her to check on Oliver enough times anyway.) Also, there was the… wait, wasn’t that the fast kid from Central? He wasn’t part of the plan. Well, the more people, the better.

Not that they thought Oliver couldn’t protect himself, but he had appearances to keep up. He was the mayor.

Quentin had to suppress a smile, seeing Oliver’s face. He seemed incredibly annoyed, and it showed. The glare he gave them when he entered even made brunette bodyguard chuckle.

“What is it this time?” He asked with barely hid exasperation. “Please tell me you are not here to “Protect me” too.”

“Nah. I brought paperwork.” Quentin said, holding up his stack of papers. “Well, that, and Miss Johnson seemed so worried I thought checking up on you would put her mind to ease.”

At the mention of the girl, the Oliver’s face softened a bit. “I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned that I thought Quinn was going to do something today.” The archer sighed. “Look, everyone, I am flattered you are all worried about me…”

“Not me, I’m just here to give you paperwork.” Quentin assured him.

Oliver shot him a look. “Right. So, most of you are worried about me, but I need you in your posts, doing something useful.”

“We are being useful.” Thea insisted. “Very useful.”

Quentin had to agree with Oliver, actually.  This whole thing seemed a bit over dramatic, but he had to admit, he was worried too. Ian Quinn had almost killed Oliver once: if it hadn’t been for the luck of the bomb not going off, the kid would have died. No doubt everyone still remembered that just as much as he did.

They stayed for a little, while Quentin talked with Oliver about the charity gala’s success (which it was, a huge success actually), while trying to ignore the not so subtle looks the kid and the Johnson girl shot each other.

He was half expecting that something would happen. Something like a bomb going off, or armed people breaking down the door, rushing in, or someone entering with a big-ass rocket launcher cackling manically. But no such thing happened.

And still, when they left the office, Quentin couldn’t help but feel like he didn’t want to leave. He wasn’t sure if it was premonition, or just simple worry. But he knew the city’s best, hell, even Central’s best were in there with Oliver.

Nothing could happen to the kid right?

 

 Nobody saw it coming.

It was almost funny, if you asked Barry, because it was a room filled with people trained to fight against the worst possible odds, and yet, not a single person could prevent it from happening.

He wasn’t even supposed to there. He just thought he would talk to Oliver about the interesting fact that he found out about the meta in their city, when he found himself in the room with the whole of Team Arrow, plus Oliver’s sister.

“Okay, what’s going on?” He asked, looking around in the office.

Oliver shot him an exasperated look. “I told them to make a plan to stop Ian Quinn if he makes a move. Apparently, they decided that meant babysitting me _all day long.”_

Barry had to hold back a chuckle, but the smile still appeared on his face, making Oliver look even angrier.

“I am considering shooting you all right now.” He muttered, but nobody seemed to be paying attention to him. “Why are you here Barry? Did you find out something?”

“Yes” Barry looked at the paper in his hand. “But it can wait. So, what are you all protecting Oliver from exactly?”

He looked at Diggle, hoping the bodyguard would give him a suitable answer. He didn’t disappoint.

“A billionaire whose business was hurt by Oliver’s actions as the mayor.” He answered Barry with a dark look. “Quinn already made a shot at Oliver. He approached him yesterday and threatened him. Today morning, Oliver finalized the decision that would hurt Quinn.”

Barry thought for a moment, taking in all the information. “So you are pretty sure he is going to attack today?”

“If he doesn’t, he won’t get a second chance because tonight he is going down.” Oliver answered instead of Diggle. “And just for the record, I don’t need you all here, protecting me.”

Barry looked at the papers in his hand, thinking. Nope, he didn’t have anything more important to do today. “Guys, I hope you don’t mind if I join you.”

Oliver’s head met the table.

 

The day was dragging by slowly. Barry and the others brought in another table (Oliver’s complaints were heard, acknowledged, and ignored) and started playing card games. Thea told them she scheduled today so Oliver only had to deal with the paperwork, and some small meetings that could be done in the office. Oliver did actually get rid of most of the team for those, because even Barry had to agree that no politician would take kindly to a bunch no names playing poker next to him while he was making a deal.

Barry got to know the team much better. He liked Curtis, he was funny and reminded him of Felicity a bit. Rene was a good guy, even if a bit raw, while Dinah was truly interesting. She was a meta too, with the same abilities as Black Siren. Only she was much less evil, thankfully. There was a stubborn streak in her, reminding him of Iris, if only a little bit.

They were all ready to jump into action all day, just itching to get their hands on Ian Quinn or his lackeys. But nothing happened, and as the day passed, Barry got increasingly bored. And he wasn’t the only one. Only Diggle seemed content with being there, but that was normal, it was his job.

“It seems like he didn’t attack today after all.” Rene said, handing Oliver even more paperwork that he brought from another office. “Also, Wayne Enterprises are asking if you still want to go through with the deal even though the last negotiation ended up with building being blown up by terrorists.”

“Yes, we need that deal, tell them that we are open to further negotiations and does this mean you will finally leave and let me do my job properly?”

“We are just protecting you” Dinah offered, looking up from the table. If Barry used that moment to change a few cards, well, nobody saw it. “You should be grateful.”

Oliver didn’t even answer to that, and Barry couldn’t blame him.

Thea walked in not long after, with a tired look on her face. “Guess what.”

“Judging by the look on your face, I would rather not.” Oliver answered, somewhat intending to lighten the mood. Probably.

Everyone in the room was silent now, looking at Thea with mild interest.

“It’s about the meta, I just got the news that…”

“Oliver!” Mr. Lance entered the room, garnering all attention to him, stopping Thea mid-sentence. He closed the door behind himself. Tightly. “We have a problem.”

The brunette woman, called Daisy if Barry remembered right, wasn’t by his side, and when Barry thought back, that’s when he thought he should have at least started suspecting something. But instead, he was fooled just like everyone else, turning his attention to the deputy mayor.

Nobody saw it coming.

They hadn’t even suspected anything.

 

Dinah was fairly sure this plan was horrible.

First: It was fairly suspicious that they all were in the same room as Oliver for no reason whatsoever for a whole day. And she even had to take a free day from work to do it.

Second: Nobody was watching Quinn. Well, that wasn’t true, Curtis had hacked into the cameras in Quinn’s office, and kept his eyes on him on his phone the whole day, but it just didn’t same safe enough.

And third: They were all in the same room. That meant many, many weak points.

She suggested Oliver taking a sick day, just for that day, and spending it in the Arrow Cave. That would have been the safest option.

But then again, the law that kicked Quinn’s ass all the way back to legal trading had to be passed today. So that option wasn’t the most logical one.

They could have secured the perimeter the whole day. Somebody standing at each door, looking for anything suspicious.

They have thrown that idea away, because nobody knew what to look for. Quinn wasn’t stupid, he wouldn’t send a head on attack again. It hadn’t worked last time, after all, and that had been retaliation, probably born out of the need for revenge.

Quinn would be smarter this time. If he did make a move, that is.

Dinah knew this plan was bad, but it was the best they could come up with on a short notice, and at least they knew where Oliver was.

But then, against this plan, they couldn’t have done anything anyway. They simply never even thought of this as a possibility.

 

Rene kept his eyes open the whole day, while he walked from office to office. He talked to politicians and businessmen, negotiated and made appointments. He had been in Lance’s office at least a dozen times during the day.

Which was why he didn’t know why he hadn’t figured it out. Looking back, it was so freaking obvious. Different clothes, no bodyguard, and most importantly, no paperwork.

Lance always had paperwork.

But then again, who the hell could have seen this coming?

 

Curtis had been keeping an eye on his phone the whole day. He had the feed from like a dozen different security cameras from Quinn’s office and he checked them again and again. But the man didn’t do anything suspicious. At all.

He was actually pretty sure that Quinn wouldn’t make a move today. It would be way too suspicious. Like he gets out, and the next day, Oliver Queen gets attacked, AGAIN?! Not even Ian Quinn could be that stupid, right?

But just in case, he had his T-spheres ready.

 

Quentin Lance hasn’t left the office since his visit to Oliver during the early afternoon hours.

 

Quentin Lance, at the same time, entered the mayor’s office, looking like he was just about to deliver the most urgent message ever, shutting the door behind him, and looking around, taking everyone into account.

Then he dropped two smoke bombs, one of them landing in front of Barry Allen.

It was a coincidence, really. If Barry had been more on his guard, he could have reacted in time. Even if he wasn’t, he could have stopped the whole thing before it happened if the bomb landed just a meter farther away. Or maybe even half a meter farther would have been enough.

But just like everyone, he was so surprised, so unsure what was happening, he didn’t react in time. It was stupid, really, after all, a second was longer than eternity for him. And yet, this time, it wasn’t enough. But who could blame him for that? It was Quentin Lance. He wouldn’t hurt them right?

Not right.

But then, it was too late already.

The smoke was everywhere.

 

_Thea felt the dread rise in her, as she looked around, but all she could see was thick grey smoke. She could feel someone passing right beside her, then there was the sound of fighting._

_Somebody started choking._

_There was a loud thud, followed by another._

_There was a shout followed by a gun going off._

_Then a window broke._

_After that, Thea felt her eyelids get heavier, and no matter how hard she tried to fight it, to walk towards Ollie, to protect her brother, she couldn’t. She felt her strength leaving her._

_Dinah instinctively took a big breath to use the Canary cry. That had been her mistake. She started choking the minute she inhaled, the smoke making her tear up and burning her throat and lungs. She felt all the power she had leave her, and she felt to the ground like a useless sack of potatoes._

_Curtis lasted longer. He realized it was probably not just simple smoke the moment he saw it, and tried to not take a big breath, pulling his t-shirt in front of his mouth, reaching for his T-spheres._

_“Come on, work” He breathed, searching for the buttons on the balls that he could barely see. He realized his mistake too late._

_He was out too._

_Rene reached for his gun, holding his breath more out of instinct than logic, but he realized he had no idea where to shoot. He couldn’t see anything but shapes and movements all around, and heard the sound of fighting. **Right, fighting. Follow the sound of fighting. Good thinking Rene.**_

_Of course he stepped on one of the T-spheres that rolled out of Curtis’ hands, losing his balance, and falling backwards. He took a breath to shout out of surprise._

_He wasn’t awake by the time his gun went off._

_Barry was the unluckiest, as he got all the smoke right in his face. It hurt to breathe, and he felt dizzy and shaky, his vision swimming. But, thankfully, he regenerated faster than the smoke affected him, so he was getting better, if only gradually.  On the other hand, it is very hard to think while the room is spinning around you and you feel like you are going to choke and you can’t breathe at all._

**_I need… I need to get out of here…_ ** _He thought, but problem: he had no idea where the exit was._

**_Wind, that’s right, I need wind_ ** _He realized, coughing. He tried to get up, but he could barely find the power to stay awake, and the fact that he hadn’t taken a breath but exhaled a lot while choking didn’t help his case._

_Then he heard the gunshot, and the window breaking._

_He needed to… He needed to be strong, the others counted on him. He pushed himself up, ignoring the searing pain in his lungs, his teary eyes, and the fact that his limbs felt like they were made of lead. Suddenly, he wished he had lungs like Supergirl._

_He sped towards the place from where the sound of the window breaking came from, and suddenly:_ there was oxygen. Taking a big breath, and recalling the layout of the room, he ran around, opening the door and the remaining windows.

He started doing circular motions with his arms, generating enough wind to start clearing the room of the smoke.

When he could finally see again, he could feel his heart sink. Everyone from team Arrow was on the ground, out of it, except Diggle, who was coughing but still awake. He stared at the empty place where Oliver used to stand.

The archer wasn’t in the room anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOD this is a mess. I had fun writing it though. And Quinn does have a plan, he isn’t operating like “lol I wanna abduct Oliver cuz I’m mad haha.”  
> I mean at this abduction there were no flying trucks at least?   
> So, thanks for reading, share your thoughts, point out the million and one mistakes I’m pretty damn sure I’ve made since I’m tired and stressed out, and just basically don’t speak English.   
> Oh, and here is a random information for you all: I love cliffhangers.  
> Wait, what do you mean you already knew that?


	14. Who will save you now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The amount of response I got for the last chapter broke my heart a bit. If it's bad, tell me, I don't need the response to be good, but please just tell me what you think, don't leave me hanging. If you think it sucked, tell me it sucked and give me reasons.
> 
> But please don't do this. :(

Daisy had conflicting emotions: On hand she really, really wanted to stay by Oliver’s side. On the other hand, she was incredibly scared of herself. Her control was all but gone, and when apparently, being around Oliver made it infinitely worse, and she just didn’t know how to deal with that. He made her feel like a teenage girl, and she wanted nothing more than to stay by his side.

But how could she? She had earthquake powers, while Oliver Queen’s best friend died in one. What was that if not the cruelest joke the universe could make. The last thing she wanted was to remind Oliver of the terrible things he had witnessed, and here she was, a walking reminder.

What was that if not cruel?

She needed time to figure this out. To think this through.

Which was why, when Oliver left in the morning, she didn’t know how to react. Standing in the door, all she wanted was to close the gap between them, but she was too afraid to do so. Every bit of logic screamed at her to stay away: for Oliver’s sake. But her heart just wouldn’t let her.

“Thank you. For everything.” She said, not looking into his eyes.

“Don’t mention it.” He answered. “And Daisy…” She looked up, forcing herself to meet his eyes. They were soft, full of worry and kindness. “I want you to be careful today. Keep your eyes open and your guards up. I think Ian Quinn may make a move today.”

“Already?” She found herself asking. “Would be a bit counter-productive to attack right after getting out of prison, wouldn’t it?”

“Call it instinct. But I think he had a plan. Just keep your eyes open, okay?”

“You got it.” Daisy nodded.

The goodbye was all sort of awkward. Neither of them knew what to do, so they ended up simply saying bye.

Daisy sighed, and started getting ready for work. Surely, Quinn wouldn’t attack like that. He wasn’t stupid, and didn’t she know that from firsthand experience.

Still, she couldn’t help the worry hiding at the back of her mind. She remembered all too clearly the last attack. She had stopped it, obviously, but what if she wasn’t there. Oliver jumped on the bomb, to protect them. If Daisy didn’t defuse it, he would have…

The chair next to her started shaking.

“Get a grip.” She muttered to herself angrily, taking a big breath, then another, just like May taught her. It helped, but just because the chair stilled again, Daisy didn’t feel any better. She was a ticking time bomb.

 

First, it was just thoughts. What if Ian Quinn did attack?

What if he was smarter this time?

Then, slowly, those little thoughts escalated.

The cold gun against her stomach, the sound of the gun going off. The pain. The blood. Daisy remembered it all as if it was yesterday. And that memory still terrified her. Ian Quinn still terrified her, no matter how hard she denied it.

The thought of the same thing happening to Oliver was unimaginable. The mental vision of him lying on the floor, bleeding out, made her breath hitch and her heart sink.

That was when Lance decided they should visit the mayor’s office: just to put her mind at ease. Not that she disliked the idea, but that was horribly unprofessional of her. May would be so mad at her. She had taught her better.

Still, entering Oliver’s office, and seeing him safe, (and maybe a bit annoyed), was a very, very good feeling. All she wanted was to run up to him and hug him and protect him. Or something. But then again, she wasn’t needed. There were a whole lot of people there, quite possibly with the same intentions.

She nodded at Diggle, and surveyed the room. She recognized the police woman from the earlier attack. Then there was Oliver’s sister, and another guy she had recognized as an employee. Also, the CSI from the other city, investigating the shadow monster was here too. She saw another guy she didn’t recognize, but figured he was some sort of police employee too, here for Oliver’s protection. Why they would need a CSI was beyond her, but she didn’t care enough to ask.

Point was, Oliver was obviously well protected. And while that was a relief, it also made Daisy realize something:

Oliver didn’t need her to protect him.

When they left the office, Daisy felt better. Should Ian Quinn decide to keep the threat, Oliver would no doubt be protected. And if something happened to him…

Well, Daisy had nothing to lose.

 

When the door was basically broken down, Daisy grabbed her gun immediately. But it was just the CSI guy, looking incredibly disturbed as he entered Lance’s office. Daisy felt her heart sink, as she took in his face. This guy was with Oliver. Why would he be here, looking like that?

“You are here.” The guy (Barry Allen, if Daisy remembered right) stuttered. “But… I saw you…”

“What are you talking about kid?” Lance asked, eyebrow raised. “I have been here all day.”

“I can confirm that.” Daisy noted, fighting back her worry. “What happened?”

“Oliver was taken.” Barry stated, staring at them. “By you.”

Daisy froze. Time seemed to slow down around her, as she staggered back. No. Please no. Not Oliver too. She felt herself step forward, grabbing the CSI by his shirt. “What are you talking about?” She asked angrily. “You let them abduct Oliver?”

The man looked down. “They had some kind of special smoke bomb. It knocked out everyone, and the guy who dropped it? He was wearing your face.” He pointed at Lance. “But it couldn’t have been you. There is no way you got back here and changed clothes by the time I got here.”

Daisy looked at Lance, whose eyes were wide. “I swear I haven’t moved from here. And why would I want to abduct Oliver anyway?”

Barry shook his head. “I don’t know. But someone did. With your face.”

Daisy staggered back. That wasn’t impossible, they had that kind of technology on her earth, so maybe, Quinn developed something similar here. And he had taken Oliver because of it.

At the edge of her vision, she noticed the pens shaking on the desk, indicating the disaster that was about to go down. “I need to go.” She stated, and basically ran out of the room. Nobody tried to stop her.

 

Barry could hear his own heartbeat, as it basically made his eardrums explode from the inside. This was a disaster. Oliver was right about Quinn and his plan: if it was instinct or just experience with bad guys, Barry didn’t know. But he couldn’t stop blaming himself. He could have stopped it. He should have stopped it. And now, Oliver was gone, and it was his fault.

“it wasn’t your fault.” Diggle stated, putting a hand on his shoulder. They were in the Arrow Cave, waiting for everyone else to get themselves back together enough so they could start planning. Diggle gave them all some kind of plant that he claimed would help with the poison. He said it was something Oliver brought with himself from Lian Yu.

“But it was. I was there. I could have stopped it.”

“He was wearing my face.” Lance butted in, his expression as dark as it gets. “You couldn’t have known it wasn’t me.”

Barry shook his head. “Still, I have superspeed.”

“But you are still human. Even if with freaky, and disturbing superpowers.” Diggle stated. “Nobody blames you Barry. But that doesn’t change the fact that Oliver is gone, and we need to find him before something happens. I have already contacted Skye, but she is yet to answer.”

Barry looked at the computer that Diggle just stood up from. “Your new hacker, right?” He asked. His guilt had to wait. He would apologize to Oliver when they found him. The search was top priority right now, which meant he needed to focus.

If they found him. – His mind supplied traitorously.

“Yes.” Diggle nodded. “She’s good. She will find Oliver.”

“Where do you guys keep finding these people?” Barry shook his head, with a ghost of a smile. “Leave some hackers to us too, please.”

There was a loud groan then, coming from the mats where the new recruits were sprawled out. It was Dinah, sitting up, grabbing her head. “What the hell happened?” She asked, her face crunching up from pain.

“Oliver was abducted.” Diggle answered simply. “We will fill you in when everyone wakes up.”

Dinah stared at them with alarm, and turned around, taking in the other knocked out members. “Damn it!” She muttered, hitting the mat angrily.

A ping made Barry’s eyes snap back at the computer, and he sped to it. In a simple chat box, there were two simple messages: one from Diggle no doubt, and one that just appeared: The answer form Skye.

_SOS. The mayor has been abducted by Ian Quinn. –_ Said the first one.

_Mayor Queen? The news didn’t say anything. –_ Answered Skye.

Diggle sat in the chair, his hands hovering over the keyboard. He looked at Barry, who nodded. They already discussed the question of the media.

_The bodyguard contacted us immediately. The police doesn’t know. They are on Quinn’s payroll, they would only be in the way. The media can’t find out that the mayor is gone. Star City can’t handle that kind of fallout._

_Understood. I’m going to get back to you if I find anything._

Diggle leaned back. “And now we wait.”

Barry shook his head. “You wait. I’m going to go and search Ian Quinn’s buildings. I can’t just sit still while Quinn is doing god knows what to Oliver.”

Diggle’s hands shot out, grabbing Barry’s arm. “Don’t. What if we get an answer and you won’t be here? OR what if he is prepared for that too? No offense but the Flash hasn’t exactly been silent about being in Star city this week.”

Barry frowned. “If something happens, I’ll be back in seconds. Besides, I’m not stupid. I have been doing this for a long time too, Diggle. I can handle myself.”

“So can Oliver.” The bodyguard answered darkly.

Barry blinked. Was Diggle… worried about him too? “I’ll be careful. I promise. And if I find Ollie, I’ll bring him back, just watch.” He smiled, and sped out.

 

Daisy wasn’t sure how much time had passed between arriving back to her apartment and team Arrow contacting her. She had been in the middle of hacking by then, doing everything in her power to find any clues as to where Quinn could have taken Oliver. It was a good distraction too. As long as she was in the systems, she wasn’t about to destroy half a city block with her uncontrolled powers.

Now, Ian Quinn was by no means hard to hack. She scanned all emails and cameras faster than Yoyo could run. Meanwhile, in her head, worse and worse scenarios played out.

Oliver lying on the ground, bleeding, bullets in his stomach.

Oliver being found dead. His beautiful blue eyes staring at nothing, his body cold.

Her mind kept jumping back to Lincoln, making a cold shiver run down her spine. She couldn’t lose Oliver too. She couldn’t. Even if she couldn’t have him either.

She didn’t even notice when the chair started shaking next to her.

Suddenly, the chat pinged again. Daisy opened it, hoping against hope.

_Hi, this is the Flash. I’ve run through all of Ian Quinn’s buildings, but couldn’t find anything. He is not being kept in any of the known facilities of Quinn’s Worldwide._

 Daisy blinked. Yes, she heard the news that the Flash was in town, but still, the fact that he was looking for Oliver too somehow gave her a bit of calm. The chair stopped shaking.

But this, this meant a lot of help. She hadn’t sent her findings yet, because there simply wasn’t enough information to narrow the search down, but this way, they didn’t need to narrow it down.

_I’ve found four not-in-the-papers buildings so far, but I couldn’t decide if he is in one of them yet. I’m sending you the coordinates now._  She hit the enter a bit stronger than necessary, but thankfully, Fitz’ computer was much better than to get damaged by something like that.

_Checking them out now._  Came the answer.

Daisy sighed in relief. This was enormous help. Hacking was useful and fast, yes, but even she could only hack so fast.

_So, Green, you are all ready to move out right?_ she asked, her hands shaking. She wanted to be there. She needed to be there.

The answer didn’t come for a suspiciously long time.

_Right._ It said.

Daisy’s eyebrows furrowed. Something wasn’t right. But before she could ask, another message popped up.

_Flash here. I found him. At least I think I did, because there were guards everywhere. I couldn’t go in, this guy was expecting me. He had metahuman dampeners all around._

Daisy swore. Of course Quinn did. If somebody had that kind of technology, it was him.

_Which building?_  She asked.

_The third on the list._

Daisy nodded. _Give me five. I’ll see if I can turn it off._

Her fingers flew over the keyboard, pulling up all and every bit of existing information about the building, sending them to the Arrow computer at the same time.

In eight minutes, she found the switch. _Bad news. It’s a manual switch. Can’t turn it off from the computer._  She wrote. _That means it’s time for Team Arrow._

Something just didn’t sit right with that idea. She could do something. She should do something.

Oliver was in danger. Her Oliver. The first person to ever really understand her. The person who found her when she was at her lowest, and instead of leaving, like people always do, stayed. Instead of judging or pitying, he understood.

She closed her eyes. No. She isn’t sitting on the sidelines for this one. But also, she couldn’t let Team Arrow find out her identity. She needed to come up with something.

_What’s the plan then?_  She asked.

Diggle stared at the monitor. This was bad. Very, very bad. It was always Oliver who made the plans, and for a good reason. According to the building plans that Skye sent him, the building was a fortress. Getting in there was like trying to break into Argus

Argus. Yes. They could use Argus. Without Oliver, they were significantly weaker, and the new recruits weren’t ready for this kind of fight yet. They could infiltrate the building, sure, but they needed time to plan it out completely.

_We are working on it._ He answered.

He looked around. All the recruits looked helpless. “It’s always Oliver making the plans.” Curtis supplied.

Diggle collected all his self-confidence, and stood up. “We can do it too. I’ve been working with the man for more than five years. I’ll figure something out, and we will rescue him.”

“I’M not sure we can.” Rene said suddenly, looking at the building plans. “This place seems pretty damn secure.”  
“We will do it for Oliver.” Diggle said confidently. “Like he would for us.”

“Agreed.” Dinah nodded, folding her arms. “We can save him.”

Barry stared at the group, his hands shaking. He wanted to help so much, but with the meta dampeners on, he was little to no help. He was useless.

“I know what our main objective needs to be.” Curtis said, stepping up to the computer, and opening the plan on which Skye highlighted the metahuman dampener switch. “We turn off the dampeners. That way, Flash can help. That is the best chance we have.”

Suddenly, everyone looked at Barry, who felt his hope return. He could help.

“Agreed.” Diggle nodded, and sent a small smile towards Barry.

And so, the planning began.

 

Daisy stared at the monitor. _Working on it._ It said.

Wasn’t good enough. Suddenly, an idea appeared in her head. She rushed into her bedroom, and opened the wardrobe. There it was. Her SHIELD uniform, her gauntlets, her old life hanging on a coathanger.

She smiled. It was time.

Quake was back.

 

Oliver woke up with a massive headache. He was tied up, lying on his stomach on some kind of weird bed that had a whole for his face. He tried to move, but the restraints held him completely.

He tried looking around too, but all he could see was the floor.

He recalled how he could have gotten there. He remembered Quentin entering the office. He remembered the smoke bombs. After that, it was dark.

What happened to the team?

He hoped the were alright.

Oliver concentrated on the room around him, trying to hear something. There was a beeping that was a lot like the machines in hospitals, and also, there was the unmistakable voice of somebody breathing. So he wasn’t alone.

“So you are awake.” He recognized that voice, sadly. Quinn.

“Good to see you again, Ian. I would shake your hand, but…” Oliver answered, hiding his anger behind a calm façade.

“Oh, yeah, about that. I’m sorry for what’s about to happen, but you see, I can’t let you meddle in my business. You can’t tell me I didn’t warn you.” Funny thing was, he did sound sorry.

“What do you want from me?” Oliver asked.

“A lot of things. And the best part? You are going to give them all to me.”

Oliver gritted his teeth. “I highly doubt that.”

“You won’t really have a choice. You see, quite some time ago, ARGUS employed me. I made a lot of things for them, but my favourite? It was just a little bomb, a chip inside the brain. Just one little button, and it goes boom.”

Oliver’s face darkened. No. This couldn’t happen. “You are a psychopath.” He uttered.

“I’m a businessman. And I need you to behave. Your good Samaritan act is getting on my nerves, and frankly, Oliver, you could do so much better than this.”

“So what, you put a bomb into my head, and then what?” His team would find him. He was sure of it. Save him before they could do this to him. So, in the meanwhile, he would try and get information.

“Well, firstly, you publicly apologize for accusing me for anything, and make the public believe that I’m an innocent businessman who just wants good things for this city. Then, you put out an APB for team Green Arrow. Then, you take back that particular law you know I hate. After that? I’m not sure yet. Maybe I’ll make you get rid of that bodyguard of yours. She is pretty, I’ll give you that, but she made me angry. I don’t like it when people make me angry.”

Oliver felt his heart sink. This was the worst case scenario. Him being controlled by a villain? No, that won’t happen. He would die before that.

“I would rather die.” He said plainly. “I’m not going to be your dog, Quinn.”

The man laughed. “And leave poor Thea all alone in the world? How cruel of you. But then, of course, I would have to do this to the next mayor too, you see, your actions really need to be cleaned up. The public sees me as an enemy, I’m losing half of my interests, and that can’t happen. I’m looking for something very, very interesting, and I need resources, money, and most importantly, freedom to find that. I won’t let you get in my way. Not you, nor the Green Arrow.”

Oliver pulled at his restraints angrily, but it did nothing. He was tied to the bad securely. “Leave Thea out of this!” He all but shouted.

“If you promise to behave, maybe I will.” Quinn answered.

“I’ll kill you.” Oliver said so coldly, he head Quinn take a step back.

“Oh, no, but I may kill you. Well, not exactly me. I hate getting my hands dirty. But my doctor will. Especially if you don’t stay still, you see, this is a very delicate procedure, and you really need to be awake for it.” The man answered.

Oliver shook with anger, but swallowed it down. There was one more question he needed to ask. “What about Quentin? What did you do to him?”

There was silence for a bit, then Quinn laughed. “Oh you mean Lance? Don’t worry, he is fine. It wasn’t him in the office. It’s one of my new inventions, and I have to say it, even though it’s far from perfect, like it only holds up for a few minutes, I still love it. It’s a kind of hologram, you put it on, and it changes your face. Genius isn’t it?”

Oliver would have shaken his head if it wasn’t tied in place. “Why?” He asked simply. “Why do all this?”

Quinn didn’t answer immediately. Then, with surprising sincerity, he answered with a simple sentence.

“Because I want to change the world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure when the next update will come, because university is starting back up (actually, it already did, but I hid my head in the sand and pretended I can stall everything just for a little bit more). Also, the lack of response doesn't help either, like for my last chapter. It made me feel super sad. If you don't like something, tell me your thoughts and reasons.  
> I'm sorry if I'm being unreasonable, but I'm not exactly swimming in overconfidence.

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Arrow, Flash, or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  
> Feel free to criticize me, point out any mistakes or anything you think is dumb, I live for criticisizm. Please?


End file.
